Still Life with Mask and Red Jar
1954
20th Century
39 1/2 x 27 1/2 in. (100.3 x 69.9 cm)
Alma Thomas,
American,
(1891–1978)
Object Type:
PAINTINGS
Creation Place:
North America
Medium and Support:
Oil on masonite
Credit Line:
Gift of Joseph N. Gennett
Accession Number:
94-P-412
Gallery Label:
Thomas is best known for large mosaic-like abstractions that are sometimes associated with Color Field Painting. As La Salle’s holdings demonstrate, however, she could also use color for expressionistic effect in figurative work. Despite studying and making art and teaching art to children from young adulthood on, her career as a serious painter really only began at age 60. Her art career accelerated when she retired from public school teaching and had her first single-artist exhibition eight years later in 1960. She went on to become the first African-American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1972 at age 80.
Current Location:
Art Museum : 20 C Gallery
