Untitled (Music Series)

Alma Thomas, Untitled (Music Series), 1978, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1978.40.5
Copied Alma Thomas, Untitled (Music Series), 1978, acrylic on canvas, 71 5852in. (182.0132.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1978.40.5

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled (Music Series)
Artist
Date
1978
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
71 5852in. (182.0132.1 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the artist
Mediums
Mediums Description
acrylic on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
1978.40.5

Artwork Description

Earlier in her career, Thomas used a straightedge or bands of elastic to guide the striped format of her compositions. In making this work, she painted more freely, creating patterns of wedges and glyphs that loosen from left to right, as if vibrating on the surface of a drum. Despite the health challenges she faced at this stage of her life, including being hospitalized for two months after breaking her hip in 1974, Thomas continued to create large paintings, sometimes propping herself up to do so.

With its simple yet dazzling red-and-white palette, Untitled (Music Series) closely relates to Thomas’s largest work, the three-panel painting Red Azaleas Singing and Dancing Rock and Roll Music. See this work on view in SAAM’s modern and contemporary art galleries on the third floor.

Exhibitions

Alma Thomas, The Eclipse, 1970, acrylic on canvas
Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas
September 15, 2023August 4, 2024
The exhibition Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas provides an intimate view of Alma Thomas’ evolving artistic practices during her most prolific period from 1959 to her death in 1978.