Red Abstraction

Artist

Alma Thomas, born Columbus, GA 1891-Washington, DC 1978

Luce Center Label

Alma Thomas was inspired by the garden outside her window and painted images that suggest light flickering through leaves and petals. She used dabs and strokes of paint to express the "new colors through the windowpanes" that appeared every time the plants moved in the wind (Alma Thomas: Phantasmagoria, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, 2001). Here, the reds, browns, and greens create a warm, heavy mass in the center of the image, which contrasts with the paler shades around the edges. The earthy tones evoke the changing of the leaves during fall, when treetops appear to burst with vibrant color.

Luce Object Quote

". . . through my impressions of nature . . . I hoped to impart beauty, joy, love, and peace." Artist’s statement, in Van Vechten, Recent Painting by Alma W. Thomas: Earth and Space Series, Exhibition Catalogue, Gallery of Fine Arts, 1971

Credit Line

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist

1959

Object number

1978.40.2

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Painting

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

40 x 27 3/4 in. (101.6 x 70.5 cm)

Department

Painting and Sculpture

On View

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor, 37A

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Topic

Abstract

Record ID

saam_1978.40.2

Usage of Metadata (Object Detail Text)

Not determined

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk792c3b19d-8a12-4d29-a076-73337c8988dc