Spring--Delightful Flower Bed

Object Details

Caption: "I’ve never bothered painting the ugly things in life…. People struggling, having difficulty…. No, I wanted something beautiful that you could sit down and look at." - Alma Thomas; Although she worked as a painter and arts educator over the course of her career, Alma Thomas did not begin her celebrated abstracted mosaic style until 1964. That year she suffered an attack of arthritis so severe she believed that she would never paint again. Thomas eventually recovered and embarked on a journey to create an entirely new style of painting, something different from any she had ever seen. These new works, which she called Earth Paintings, were inspired by nature, in this case the circular flower beds on display at the Washington, D.C., National Arboretum.
Description: This is an abstract and colorful mosaic-style painting with concentric circles filling a square space with a light green background. Each circle is composed of rectangular shapes of similar color and size, but each circle varies in color and width.

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of William J. and Brenda L. Galloway and Family

1967

Restrictions & Rights: © Charles Thomas Lewis; Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

Medium: acrylic paint on canvas
Dimensions: H x W x D (unframed): 36 × 36 in. (91.4 × 91.4 cm); H x W x D (framed): 37 3/16 × 37 1/4 × 2 7/16 in. (94.5 × 94.6 × 6.2 cm)

Place made: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Topic: African American; Abstraction; Art; Local and regional; Nature; Resistance

GUID (Link to Original Record): http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5b06433a4-e9f4-4f06-8e52-66e19141aa06