I hadn’t thought much about White House art, until I read a piece in today’s New York Times [1] that listed the paintings the Obamas selected to hang in their private residence, and the West and East Wings. Their choices were bold and modern, and included many well-known artists like Mark Rothko and Jasper Johns, and also an African-American abstract painter, Alma Thomas, whom I’m cramming to learn more about. Here are a few facts. She was born in Georgia, raised in Washington, D.C., and accomplished the near impossible, irrespective of race, becoming a successful artist during her lifetime. Alma was the first woman to graduate from Howard University with a Fine Arts degree, and the first African-American woman to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum [2] of American Art.
This painting, Watusi (Hard Edge) by Alma Thomas, 1963, is now on loan to the White House.