WASHINGTON, DC—“Red Rose Cantata,” a graphic canvas, with bold colorful rhythm by Alma Thomas (1891-1978) is on view at the National Gallery of Art in the East Building. Thomas was a member of the Washington Color School. In 1972, when her work was exhibited at the Whitney Museum it was the institution’s first solo show for an African American woman. She painted “Red Rose Cantata” (and “Sky Light,” a cobalt blue canvas with the same visual approach) the following year, just five short years before her death at age 87.
Photos by Arts Observer
