Auction Record: Alma Thomas’s 1969 Vision of ‘Spring Flowers’ Yields More Than $300K
PAINTED NEARLY 50 YEARS AGO, Alma Thomas‘s ode to “Spring Flowers in Washington D.C.” set an artist record yesterday, topping more than $300,000 at Los Angeles Modern Auctions. Grounded in pink, the mesmerizing square canvas is a rhythmic composition of pattern and color. Nearly four hours after the Modern Art & Design Auction started...
Backstory: Half a Century Ago, a California College Student Visited Alma Thomas in Washington and Bought a Major Painting
ALMA THOMAS, “Spring Flowers in Washington D.C. (1969) is being offered at LA Modern Auctions on March 5. IN A HANDWRITTEN LETTER, Alma Thomas (1891-1978) thanked an aspiring young African American physician for sending his final payment to purchase one of her paintings. The California college student visited Thomas’s studio in 1969 and decided...
A Look Back: For 8 Years, President Obama Touted Merits of Art for Change
President Obama sits for first-ever 3D Presidential portrait, which was produced by the Smithsonian Institution, June 9, 2014. | Official White House Photo by Pete Souza This post has been updated with links to the Obama White House archive site. FROM THE MOMENT President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama entered the...
For the Obamas, Art Has Helped Make the White House Feel Like Home
President Obama narrates a look inside his art-filled White House residence. | Obama White House Video IN OCTOBER, PRESIDENT OBAMA hosted “Love & Happiness: A Musical Experience,” the last of many, many musical performances staged at the White House during his two terms. “Over the past eight years, Michelle and I have set aside...
Culture Type Picks: The 12 Best Black Art Books of 2016
THIS YEAR’S SELECTION of the Best Black Art Books includes 12 volumes that in various ways are reframing art history—from scholarly works shedding light on major cultural moments and volumes of groundbreaking photography, to exhibition catalogs surveying broadly the work of important artists such as Kerry James Marshall and Alma Thomas. Highly recommended among Culture...
Culture Talk: Ian Berry on New Alma Thomas Exhibition Catalog, an Encyclopedic View of the Singular Artist
ALMA THOMAS, “End of Autumn,” 1968 (acrylic and graphite on canvas). | Collection of Richard Grossman and Adam Sheffer; Courtesy Studio Museum in Harlem EXPLAINING HER CHOICE to focus on brightly hued abstract work, Alma Thomas (1891-1978) said in 1970: “Through color, I have sought to concentrate on beauty and happiness, rather than on...
2016 Holiday Gift Guide: 30 Objects Inspired by the Work of African American Artists
FOR THE ART ENTHUSIASTS ON YOUR LIST, consider a gift inspired by one of the most critically acclaimed African American artists working today. Culture Type has curated a list of 30 fabulous finds to fit any budget and suit a variety of recipients. Many special products were created to accompany major exhibitions in 2016,...
At Swann African American Art Auction, Abstract Paintings by Norman Lewis, Sam Gilliam, and Wadsworth Jarrell Top Sales
WADSWORTH JARRELL’s 1973 “Untitled (African Rhythm, Our Heritage)” achieved an artist’s record at Swann’s Oct. 6 sale of African American art. WHEN THE HAMMER CAME DOWN, a brief round of applause followed the sale of Wadsworth Jarrell‘s “Untitled (African Rhythm, Our Heritage).” The vibrant mixed-media painting sold for $78,000 ($97,500 including fees), more than...
Where My Girls At?: 28+ Opportunities to See and Support the Work of Black Female Artists and Curators This Fall
Works by Alma Thomas, Simone Leigh, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye IT WAS A GREAT DAY IN HARLEM, a celebration of two important women in art—Alma Thomas (1891-1978) and Thelma Golden. The artist and the director of the Studio Museum in Harlem were both born Sept. 22. Thomas would have been 125. To mark the milestone,...
Culture Talk: Curator Lauren Haynes on Bringing the Colorful, Abstract Paintings of Alma Thomas to Harlem’s Studio Museum
ALMA THOMAS, “Snoopy Sees Earth Wrapped in Sunset,” 1970 (acrylic on canvas). | Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist; Courtesy Studio Museum in Harlem AT A TIME WHEN MOST ARTISTS are in the sunset of their careers, Alma Thomas (1891-1978) was on the rise. Recognized for her expressive abstract paintings, her exuberant use...
History Makers: 10 African American Firsts in Modern and Contemporary Art Continue to Resonate Today
THE LIST OF HISTORY-MAKING firsts and groundbreaking achievements made by African American artists, and more recently curators, is endless, spanning probably as early as the 17th century to the present. The following briefly captures 10 milestones and a corresponding “where are they now” look at each of these important figures. ALMA THOMAS with...
Retrospective: A Review of the Latest News in Black Art – Art, Police and Black Lives
RETROSPECTIVE is a review of the latest news and happenings related to art by and about people of African descent. In the first half of July 2016, highlights include responses to police violence through the lens of art by artists including Dread Scott, curator Thomas J. Lax, and writer Taylor Renee Aldridge in the...
For Your Summer Agenda, 49 U.S. Exhibitions Featuring Works by Black Artists
This summer, artists including (clockwise from left) Nari Ward, Simone Leigh, Fred Wilson, Chakaia Booker, and John Akomfrah, are presenting solo exhibitions. THIS SUMMER 2016, incredible exhibitions featuring artists of African descent are on view across the United States. From Los Angeles, to Chicago, Atlanta, and New York, museums and galleries and public spaces...
Winter Wonders: 44 Exhibitions Feature Exceptional Works by Black Artists
LONG OVERDUE, THE COLORFUL AND EXPRESSIVE abstract works of Alma Thomas (1891-1978), pictured above, are being celebrated with a groundbreaking retrospective at the Tang Museum at Skidmore College in upstate New York. This summer, Thomas’s first solo museum exhibition since 2001 will travel to the Studio Museum in Harlem, which is co-organizing the show....
Media Report: Alma Thomas Opens at Tang, Naima Keith Joins CAAM, and More
Naima Keith, who served as an associate curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem, has joined the California African American Museum in Los Angeles. MEDIA REPORT CITES recently published news and features from around the web, recommendations from Culture Type worth taking the time to read and explore: Harlem’s Studio Museum Curator Naima...
On the Horizon in African American Art: Artists to Watch and Events to Look Forward to in 2016
WITH A NEW YEAR UNDERWAY and a compelling selection of new books, exhibitions and events on the horizon, here is what to look forward to in African American and African diasporic art—the most-anticipated happenings and artists to watch in 2016: After spending January at the historic residence of a Mexican muralist, Henry Taylor will...
Dec. 15: Next Swann African American Art Auction Features Diverse Slate of Significant Modern and Contemporary Works
SWANN AUCTION GALLERIES has released the catalog for its fall African American Fine Art sale on Dec. 15 in New York. The selection, which it describes as including its “strongest offerings to date,” features a number of Norman Lewis paintings, several works by Hughie Lee-Smith, Lois Mailou Jones, Beauford Delaney, and Charles White, along with...
At Whitney Museum, ‘America is Hard to See’ Acknowledges African American Contributions to Recent Art History
FOR GENERATIONS, IT HAS BEEN HARD to visit American museums and genuinely appreciate the experience when rarely is the depth and breadth of American art represented in exhibitions and collections. Far rarer, has been the inclusion of works by African American artists in retrospectives intended to capture the broad sweep of American art history....
Alma Thomas is Given Pride of Place at the White House
THE INSTANTLY RECOGNIZABLE work of Alma W. Thomas (1891-1978) graces the Old Family Dining Room at the White House. In February, First Lady Michelle Obama revealed the newly refurbished space where Thomas’s “Resurrection” is displayed on the north wall. The painting is the first artwork by an African American woman to hang in the...
Spring Openings: 28 New Exhibitions Feature Black Artists
THIS SPRING MARKS THE OPENING of a number of notable exhibitions featuring work by African and African American artists. In Los Angeles, William Pope.L’s largest-ever museum presentation is on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. In New York, a comprehensive overview of colorful works by Alma Thomas is at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery,...
