In addition to the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collections, I was struck by two special exhibitions on 20th century DC artists, both African-American, Alma Thomas and David Driskell. Both the exhibitions were extensive, with considerable biographical and interpretive material. Columbus, Georgia, would not provide high school education for women of color, so Miss [sic]* Thomas' parents moved the family to Washington, where she completed her secondary education and was Howard University's first fine arts graduate. She taught junior high school for 35 years in DC, earning a masters degree from Columbia along the way...and producing paintings. It was only after her retirement that she found her "voice" as an Expressionist. Her art continued and evolved, and during her lifetime she exhibited in major museums and galleries that would have denied her entry in previous years. She was one of two women to speak at the 1963 March on Washington; the other was Josephine Baker. David Driskell's life was similar in overcoming barriers of every sort. He is known primarily as an art historian, an academic and curator, among the founders of African-American art as a field of study; but he also was a painter of note. Most of his academic and artistic careers occurred in the DC area and nearby.
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| A "colorist" Expressionist |
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| Thomas' Red Azaleas Singing and Dancing Rock and Roll, 1976 |
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| Several rooms on her later work |
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A much earlier landscape, untitled, c. 1952, thought to be Rock
Creek Park in DC |
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After attaining a degree of notoriety and success,
she had special attire designed for her appearances
at major galleries; theatrical design was one of her
early interests |
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| Thomas' "womb" easy chair |
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| Driskell's Midnight in the Garden of Eden, 2005 |
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| City Quartet, 1953 |
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| Ghetto Wall #2, 1970 |
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| Self-portrait, 1953 |
*"I am
Miss Thomas, and I am not amiss at missing so many fools" (my paraphrase)
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