Alma Thomas
Thomas did not become a full-time painter until she retired from teaching at sixty-nine. She had painted all her life, studied at Howard University and Columbia, and exhibited occasionally, but her career as an artist began when most people's careers end. She was eighty when she had her first major solo exhibition. She was eighty-one when her work entered the Whitney Biennial.
Biography
She was born in Columbus, Georgia, and grew up in Washington, D.C. She studied at Howard University under the colourist Loïs Mailou Jones and later at American University, where she was the first African American graduate student. She taught art in Washington public schools for thirty-five years.
Her paintings are fields of colour made from short, mosaic-like brushstrokes arranged in vertical and horizontal patterns. They shimmer. The colours are inspired by the gardens and trees she could see from her studio window on Fifteenth Street in Washington, and by the stained glass windows she had observed in European cathedrals. Holly Leaf Jungle and Wind Dancing with Spring Flowers vibrate with chromatic energy that owes something to Matisse and something to Byzantine mosaic.
She aligned herself with the Washington Color School and the broader Color Field movement, though she came to abstraction later than most of its practitioners. Her late start meant she had no interest in theoretical positioning. She painted what she saw, in the colours she felt, with a directness that theory would have complicated.
She died in 1978, at eighty-six. Her career as a full-time painter lasted seventeen years. In that time she produced a body of work that is now in every major American museum.
Timeline
- 1891Born on 22 September in Columbus, Georgia, the eldest of four daughters. Her father was a businessman and her mother a dress designer.
- 1907Moved with her family to Washington, DC, at age 15, seeking better educational opportunities and escape from racial violence in the segregated South. The family settled in a house on 15th Street that she would call home for the rest of her life.
- 1924Became Howard University's first fine arts graduate at age 32 in Washington, DC. She then began a 35-year teaching career at Shaw Junior High School, inspiring generations of young artists.
- 1960Retired from teaching at age 69 and devoted herself to painting full-time in Washington, DC. She began developing the mosaic-like colour field style of staccato brushstrokes that would become her signature.
- 1963Attended the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom at age 72 with her friend, the opera singer Lillian Evanti. Her art increasingly reflected the energy and optimism of the civil rights era.
- 1966Held her first major solo exhibition at Howard University at age 75 in Washington, DC. Her joyful, nature-inspired abstractions drew attention from curators and collectors across the country.
- 1972Became the first Black woman to hold a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art at age 80 in New York. That same year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired one of her paintings, and the Corcoran Gallery staged a solo show.
- 1978Died on 24 February in Washington, DC, at age 86. She had continued painting through crippling arthritis, producing radiant canvases inspired by the garden outside her studio window.
Notable Works
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Where to See Alma Thomas
1 museum worldwide.
Related Artists
Frequently Asked Questions
How did alma thomas paint?
Alma Thomas's vividly coloured work corresponds with Colour Field paintings in conveying and invoking emotion through colour and shape.Is alma thomas still alive?
No, Alma Thomas died in 1978.Was alma thomas black?
Alma Thomas was African-American; she was the first African-American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum.What is alma thomas best known for?
Alma Thomas is identified with Colour Field painters.What is alma thomas famous for?
Alma Thomas is identified with Colour Field painters.When did alma thomas die?
Alma Thomas died in 1978 at the age of 87.When did alma thomas start painting?
Alma Thomas painted all her life, but she became a full-time painter upon her retirement from teaching.Why did alma thomas became an artist?
Alma Thomas became a full-time painter when she retired from teaching at sixty-nine, though she had painted throughout her life and studied art at Howard University and Columbia. Her career as an artist took off later in life, with her first major solo exhibition at eighty.When did alma thomas retire from teaching?
Thomas retired from teaching at sixty-nine.Who was alma thomas inspired by?
Her colours were inspired by the gardens and trees she could see from her studio window, and by the stained glass windows she had observed in European cathedrals. Her work owes something to Matisse and something to Byzantine mosaic.Why is alma thomas important?
Alma Thomas became the first African-American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum.
Sources
Editorial draws on the following primary and tertiary references for Alma Thomas.
- [1] museum Whitney Museum of American Art Used for: museum holdings.
- [2] museum National Gallery of Art Used for: museum holdings.
- [3] museum Art Institute of Chicago Used for: museum holdings.
- [4] museum The Phillips Collection Used for: museum holdings.
- [5] museum Metropolitan Museum of Art Used for: museum holdings.
- [6] museum Smithsonian American Art Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [7] book Charlotte Mullins, A Little History of Art Used for: biography.
- [8] book Fred S. Kleiner, Helen Gardner, Kleiner & Mamiya, Gardner's Art through the Ages, Western Perspective, 16th edition, Vol. 2, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Used for: biography.
- [9] book Hodge, Susie, 1960- author, The short story of women artists : a pocket guide to movements, works, breakthroughs, & themes Used for: biography.
Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-07-02. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.
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