Alma Thomas Biography
Born in 1891, Alma Thomas was a painter who captured in her distinct abstract visual lexicon her splendorous fascination with nature, space, and the progress of humanity in our modern world. After studying painting at Howard University—where she was the first student to graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art—Thomas pursued further studies at Columbia University in New York, later to return to Washington and become an arts educator in the city’s public school system. Pursuing her own practice part-time, Thomas first exhibited her work at the age of 75, and it was not until recently that the magnitude of her works was truly discovered; often overlooked by the art establishment, Thomas is now undoubtedly a part of the generation of female artists reclaiming their deserved position in the Western artistic canon.
A central motif to Thomas’ practice was space and the desire to take a step away from reality and imagine the Earth from an otherworldly distance, particularly inspired by the scientific and sociopolitical advancements of the 1960s. Having grown up in an era of social strife, the artist was undoubtedly captivated by not only the progressive impacts of the Civil Rights movement but also the Space Race of the decade. Thomas’ kaleidoscopic and dazzling brushstrokes foreground the sense of wonder and astonishment with which she lived her life. Testament to the significance of her practice, Alma Thomas was the first African American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York in 1972; her paintings can be found in the collections of museums such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville; and the Art Institute of Chicago.
