Works by Alma Thomas, Charles White, and Beauford Delaney Among Highlights at Christie’s Contemporary Sale
SPRING IS A RECURRING THEME in the abstract paintings of Alma Thomas (1891-1978), who lived and worked in Washington, D.C. Her rhythmic compositions were inspired by the rustling leaves on the Holly Tree outside the bay window in the front room of her home. Thomas also visited the National Arboretum to “get impressions,” as...
Paintings by 20th Century Giants Alma Thomas, Norman Lewis, and Charles White Smashed Auction Records at Evening Sales in New York
THREE GIANTS of 20th century American art were represented in the evening auctions of contemporary art at Sotheby’s and Christie’s for the first time in November. The auction houses offer only a few dozen works in their evening auctions and the coveted slots are reserved for premier works by important artists. Significant works by...
Culture Talk: Collector Pamela Joyner on the Artists Defining the History and Shaping the Future of Black Abstract Art
SINCE 1999, PAMELA J. JOYNER and Alfred J. Giuffrida have focused their collecting on abstract art by artists of African descent. Nearing 100 artists, the collection is documented in a hefty volume, “Four Generations: The Joyner / Giuffrida Collection of Abstract Art,” and a traveling exhibition. After touring four museums, “Solidary & Solitary: The...
Celebrating African American Art Every Month of the Year, 2020 Calendars Showcase Charles White, Ernie Barnes, Alma Thomas, Basquiat and Bearden
OVER THE PAST YEAR, an “African American Art” wall calendar has featured a succession of 19th and 20th century artists, each month showcasing works by William H. Johnson, Robert S. Duncanson, and James A. Porter, among others. Expressing support for Angela Davis, Charles White‘s “Love Letter” (1971) presided over October and this month Laura...
Latest News in African American Art: Gus Casely-Hayford Headed to V&A Museum, Betye Saar and Indira Allegra Win Major Artist Awards & More
Gus Casely-Hayford is the inaugural director of V&A East in London The following review presents a snapshot of recent news in African American art and related black culture: NEWS APPOINTMENT | Gus Casely-Hayford is joining the Victoria & Albert Museum in London as inaugural director of V&A East. He is heading up two...
The Week Ahead: Art World Power, Major Artist Awards, and Million Dollar Auctions
THIS IS A BIG WEEK IN ART. Wednesday evening, the Studio Museum in Harlem is announcing the winner of the annual Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize at its 2019 gala. Last year, Los Angeles-based textile artist Diedrick Brackens received the $50,000 prize. Simone Leigh won in 2017. The latest Power 100 List is also...
New York Now: Fall Exhibitions Feature Amy Sherald, Roy DeCarava, Wangechi Mutu, Melvin Edwards, Alvin Baltrop, and Ed Clark, Plus Betye Saar and Pope.L at the New MoMA
Installation view of Betye Saar at Museum of Modern Art FALL IN NEW YORK CITY is always a time of renewal and fresh new perspectives when it comes what’s next and relevant in art. This season there are an exceptional number of opportunities to experience the work of African American artists in museums, galleries,...
50 Years Ago, Alma Thomas Made ‘Space’ Paintings that Imagined the Moon and Mars
WHEN APOLLO 11 LANDED on the moon, Alma Thomas was inspired by the historic milestone. The mission was launched 50 years ago today and Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins landed on the moon four days later, July 20, 1969. The American astronauts were the first people to visit...
Museums Are Swapping Paintings by White Male Artists for Works by Black Artists, Filling Historic Gaps in Their Collections
FOR GENERATIONS, African American artists have not received anywhere near the institutional and market recognition experienced by their white peers. In terms of acquisitions, many museums are attempting long-delayed corrections. Few museums have consistently collected works by black artists, leaving historic gaps in their collections. To address these shortfalls and diversify their holdings, three...
Sotheby’s Contemporary Sales in New York Yielded Records for Kevin Beasley, McArthur Binion, Michael Ray Charles, Charles Gaines, Rashid Johnson, and Alma Thomas
SOTHEBY’S ANNOUNCED LAST WEEK that it was being acquired by French-Israeli telecommunications billionaire Patrick Drahi in a $3.7 billion deal. The purchase would take the publicly traded auction house private, again, after 31 years on the New York Stock Exchange. (Other major auction houses are privately held, including Christie’s, its chief rival, Phillips, and...
Culture Talk: Curator Jonathan Walz on the Rich History Found in the Archives and Collections Dedicated to Artist Alma Thomas
Portrait of Alma Thomas painted by Laura Wheeler Waring (1947). | Smithsonian American Art Museum RESEARCH IS ONGOING for a forthcoming exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Alma Thomas (1891-1978), the accomplished and technically rigorous abstract painter who was the first African American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney...
Latest News in African American Art: Juergen Teller Appropriated the Work of Mickalene Thomas, VMFA Elected New Board President, Alma Thomas Papers Digitized
This December/January 2018 cover of Paris Vogue conjures the style of Mickalene Thomas, but the image was created by Juergen Teller. The following review of the past week or so presents a snapshot of the latest news in African American art and related culture: NEWS The benefactor behind Anonymous Was a Woman, which...
Charles White’s ‘Love Letter’ for Angela Davis Featured on Forthcoming 2019 African American Art Calendar
CHARLES WHITE, “Love Letter,” 1971 SHORTLY AFTER ‘CHARLES WHITE: A RETROSPECTIVE’ opens at the Art Institute of Chicago, a 2019 wall calendar will be released featuring his work. Published by Pomegranate in collaboration with the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), the African American art calendar features Charles White‘s “Love Letter” (1971) on the...
Locating Alma Thomas: Forthcoming Retrospective Will Explore Artist’s Creative Life and Hometown Connections
MAJOR EXHIBITIONS OF WORKS by Alma Thomas (1891-1978) have concentrated on her paintings, masterful abstract works that are defined by her attention to rhythm, pattern, and color. The Columbus Museum in Columbus, Ga., and the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Va., have announced a forthcoming retrospective that will broadly explore her creative life—her...
Alma Thomas’s Hometown Museum in Columbus, Ga., Plans a Major Retrospective
Alma Thomas with her work at the Whitney Museum of American Art. | Courtesy Archives of American Art LARGELY KNOWN AS A WASHINGTON, D.C,-BASED ARTIST who dedicated herself to her practice full-time late in life, Alma Thomas (1891-1978) is recognized for her abstract compositions, exuberant works defined by rhythmic pattern and vibrant color. The...
Auction Results: A Review of African American Art Featured in Sotheby’s Fall 2017 Contemporary Auctions—Several Never Exhibited, Unseen For Decades
IN ANTICIPATION OF THE SPRING 2018 SALES at major auction houses in London this month, Culture Type is taking a look back at recent results at Sotheby’s. One of the benefits of observing auctions is the opportunity see works long held in private hands away from public view. The November 2017 Contemporary Day and...
New Banners at Smithsonian American Art Museum Feature Paintings by Alma Thomas and William H. Johnson
TREASURED WORKS BY African American artists Alma Thomas and William H. Johnson are on view outside the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum (SAAM). With the help of the public, the works were selected to grace the new banners hanging at the museum’s entrances. “The Eclipse” (1970) by Thomas and “Flowers” (1939-40) by Johnson greet visitors...
Celebrating Earth Day with Alma Thomas’s Nature-Inspired ‘Earth’ Paintings
Alma Thomas, “Untitled,” circa 1968. | MoMA A NEW EXHIBITION at the Museum of Modern Art in New York is dedicated to works by women artists created between the end of World War II in 1945 and the onset of the Feminist Movement in the late 1960s. “Making Space: Women Artists and Postwar Abstraction”...
Art Capital: Nearly 500 Gather at National Gallery of Art to Discuss African American Art in 20th Century Washington
Detail of ALMA THOMAS, “Red Rose Cantata” 1973 (acrylic on canvas). | Courtesy National Gallery of Art Symposium gives a nod to Howard University and local artists, scholars and curators who shaped the field WASHINGTON, D.C. — For decades, Howard University in Washington, D.C., was at the center of the African American art world....
Auction Results: New Records Set for Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Henry Taylor, and Alma Thomas, Compelling Works by El Anatsui Among Many Others by Black Artists Sold Too
ACROSS THE UNITED STATES and in London, auctions of post-war, modern and contemporary art were held at the end of February and early March. Records were set in Los Angeles, where an Alma Thomas painting was offered, and London where Henry Taylor and Njideka Akunyili Crosby achieved new benchmarks. Auction values for Nigerian-born, Los Angeles-based...
