84

Alma W. Thomas

(1891-1978)

Untitled.

Acrylic and pencil on Arches paper, 1971.
Signed and dated in ballpoint pen and blue ink, lower right.
22 x 30 in. (55.9 x 76.2 cm.), Frame: 28 x 35 x 2 in. (71.1 x 88.9 x 5.1 cm.)

  • Provenance:
    The artist, Washington, DC
    Dr. David H. Pendergrast, Washington, DC.
    Conner-Smith, Washington, DC
    Private collection, AL (2021).
  • Notes:
    This untitled work on paper is beautiful example of Alma Thomas's early 1970s works on paper. Thomas developed an extensive body of abstract painting on paper between 1970 and 1974.

    Thomas was particularly inspired by the range of color found in the flowers of her garden and her neighborhood in Washington, DC. A similar palette is found in her concentric circle painting Pansies in Washington, 1969, collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. An untitled 1971 work on paper by Alma Thomas with a closely related palette is also in the National Gallery of Art and a gift of Ruth Kainen, the widow of her artist friend Joseph Kainen. Other 1970s works on paper, including Blue Ground Stripe, the Johnson Collection, Sea of Tranquility and Summer Reflections, 1970, Fisk University, also include bands of green, purple and pink; these paintings were recently exhibited in the traveling retrospective Alma W. Thomas: Everything is Beautiful. These variations reflects her evolving interest in the range of expressive color into the 1970s.
  • Condition:
    Please contact the Specialist for the auction to request a condition report.

    Condition reports and additional images are provided as a courtesy and should be used by you to aid in the formation of your own opinion regarding condition. All material is sold subject to Swann's standard Terms and Conditions of Sale as published in our catalogues and posted on our website, and include the following terms: (1) all property is sold "as-is"; and (2) works cannot be returned on the basis of condition.

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April 2, 2026 12:00 PM EDT
New York, NY, US

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