#Exhibeo art magazine professional

Nowadays, her work can be found in major collections, such as MoMA, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the White House, where her painting Resurrection (1966) was the first artwork by an African-American woman to enter the permanent collection.

Later on, at the age of 81, she went on to become the first African-American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

#Exhibeo art magazine professional

Thomas, who became a full-time, professional artist only in 1960 at the age of 69, quickly became a respected painter, leading to her first retrospective exhibit in 1966 at the Gallery of Art at Howard University. The two exhibitions together offer an incredible insight into Alma Thomas’ life, career, and legacy. Comprising approximately 150 works, including rarely seen theatrical designs and beloved abstract paintings, the exhibition was presented in Norfolk, Washington, D.C., and Nashville, before arriving at The Columbus Museum for a final stop. Thomas: Everything Is Beautiful, a major retrospective of the artist’s late career. The exhibition serves as an intriguing and informative opening act for Alma W. Despite their position, though, the family had to face the racial discrimination that affected all African Americans in the Deep South during Jim Crow, which eventually led the family to relocate to Washington, D.C., in 1907, to allow Thomas and her sisters to attend better schools. Her father was a businessman and her mother a dressmaker, and the Thomas family was an integral part of the local Black middle-class community. The oldest of four daughters, Alma Thomas, was born in a stimulating and open environment. Now the exhibition Sand Unshaken: The Origin Story of Alma Thomas, on view at The Columbus Museum until October 2, 2022, will help to weave the story of the Thomas’ unusual life in Columbus. Yet, her early life is just as interesting as her late-career and a fundamental pillar in her personal development. Much has been said about her post-retirement career and the artist is famous for her signature style, associated alternatively with the Washington Color School or Abstract Expressionism. Born in 1891 in Columbus, Georgia, Thomas worked for over 30 years as an art teacher, before becoming a full-time professional artist after her retirement.