“Through color, I have sought to concentrate on beauty and happiness, rather than on man’s inhumanity to man.”
– Alma Thomas
Alma Thomas, Autumn Leaves Fluttering in the Breeze, 1973, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 50 in. (101.5 x 127.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist, 1980.36.9
Hello readers! We hope you all have been making the most of your Black History Month! To wrap up the Influential Black Artists Throughout the Ages series, there are two notable black artists that helped shape the artworld into what we know it as today.
Alma Thomas, Snow Reflections on Pond, 1973, acrylic on canvas, 68 x 54 in. (172.7 x 137.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist, 1980.36.10
The first of these artists is a female, Alma Thomas. Alma was born in Columbus, Georgia in 1891 and was the oldest child of four, all girls. In the early 1900s, her family moved to Washington D.C. to escape the racial violence that was so prevalent in Georgia and other southern states during that era. Alma seemed to have a lovely childhood, despite the fact the United States was segregated during this period, and she was a bright young lady, becoming Howard University’s first fine arts degree graduate in 1924. She went on to get a master’s degree in art education as well, from Columbia University, in 1934. In 1943, she played a substantial role in the founding of the Barnett Aden Gallery, one of the first African American owned art galleries in the nation. During Alma’s childhood, blacks couldn’t even enter a museum or art gallery and wouldn’t have dreamed of believing they could own one or create art that would be displayed there.
Laura Wheeler Waring, Portrait of Alma Thomas, ca. 1945, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Vincent Melzac 1977.121.
Alma made her living as an art teacher for 35 years, but her passion for art didn’t reach full blossom until after she retired. Ironically enough, her work gained notoriety during the 1960s civil rights movement era, when she was not looking to engage the movement at all. She had a particular niche for bright, energetic, colorful abstracts which she began focusing on in the 1950s but that she claimed as her true signature style around 1960. During this time in our country’s history, artists were hard to come by if you weren’t in New York City, the focal point of the fine arts. So for a black woman from Washington D.C. to grow so famous and loved was absolutely unheard of. And in 1973 she outdreamed her own childhood by becoming the first black woman to have an artwork on solo display at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Alma passed on in 1978, having lived a life full of achievement. Alma’s journey is one that, while not exactly studded with obstacles and pitfalls, shows exactly how much the country changed in one person’s lifetime. Alma was a pilgrim, navigating unknown seas for blacks – and especially black women – of her era and perhaps you, too, can draw upon her bravery for inspiration when taking on the unknown.
Jean-Michel Basquiat Photo Credit: Getty Images
I don’t listen to what art critics say. I don’t know anybody who needs a critic to find out what art is.
– Jean-Michel Basquiat
Next, I’d like to share one final influential black artist with you. Jean-Michel Basquiat is an artist some of you know or have heard of. And, if not, you certainly will be familiar with the types of art that are, due to him, considered works of art and he is the reason they are loved and appreciated to this day. He was born in 1960 in Brooklyn, New York, and he had a culturally rich heritage. His mother was Puerto Rican and his father a Haitian-American, and his ancestry became a source of inspiration for him to draw from throughout his life. In 1977 he quit high school, a year before he was expected to graduate. It was around this same time that attention became focused on street graffiti around the city. His elaborate tags could be found on subway trains and stations and Manhattan buildings, all associated with the same “artist” because of the three-peak crown motif used in his work and the signature “SAMO.” In 1980, his work was displayed in a group show and, while receiving many remarks from critics about his style and the use of various unusual characteristics such as stick people, it was quickly clear that the public loved it.
Self-Portrait, 1984 © The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat
This newfound appreciation for and recognition of new, contemporary forms of art marked the rise of an art movement Basquiat was the centerpiece of: The Neo-expressionism Movement. New and experimental artists and artforms were increasingly becoming familiar and in the mid-80s Basquiat and rising pop-artist Andy Warhol collaborated to create and show what would later be known as some of the best pieces of that time period. Basquiat was on a role, however, and he didn’t stop there. He travelled far and wide displaying his artworks, even at age twenty-five becoming the youngest ever artist to have his work on display at a gallery in Hanover, Germany, when he put up over sixty pieces at that location.
Red Kings, 1981 © The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat
What is so relatable, however, is what comes next in Basquiat’s life. Unfortunately, a young black man growing up in Brooklyn was sure to be exposed to many things in life. One of those things is drugs. As Basquiat’s fame and popularity rose in intensity so did Basquiat’s addiction to heroin. In 1988, he ultimately left New York and went to Hawaii for several months in an attempt to get sober and shake the stuff for good. When he returned, he told loved ones that he had done just that, but sadly, only a few months later on August 12, 1988, at the youthful age twenty-seven, Jean-Michel took a fatal overdose of heroin and passed away. His untimely demise left us pining for art we never had the opportunity to see him create, but as recently as 2017 Basquiat was still making his firsts come true. He became the first black artist to ever sell a painting for the amount he did, the first artist after 1980 to sell a painting for so much, and the first American to sell a painting for so much. I think it’s safe to say that Basquiat’s record-breaking pieces influenced the world of art as we now know it and because of him we aren’t afraid to open our minds to true creativity and to embrace what we find when we do.
I think we all know someone who is struggling with addiction or who has died as a result of an overdose. Heroin has waged a war with us for decades, a war we are losing. Today, in memory of Jean-Michel Basquiat, if you or someone you know needs access to treatment or resources where they can find treatment, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s toll-free National hotline at 1800-662-HELP (4357) or visit them online at Search For Treatment – FindTreatment.gov
Together we can win the war.
I’m not a black artist. I’m an artist.
– Jean-Michel Basquiat
Tomorrow is leap-year and we will finish off our Black History Month Celebration with a short reflection so stay tuned!
Thanks for reading guys.
References
Biography. (2024). Jean-Michel Basquiat Biography. Jean-Michel Basquiat – Art, Death & Paintings (biography.com)
Markoski, K. (2024). Alma Thomas. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Alma Thomas | Smithsonian American Art Museum (si.edu)
SAMHSA. (2024). SAMHSA – Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
About the Author:
Tia is an investigative journalist here at BLACK. She holds degrees in Political Science and Applied Economics from SNHU and she is a first-year law student at Purdue Global Law School, pursuing her J.D. She also has a certification in Human Rights from Wassmuth Center for Human Rights in Boise Idaho and she recently interned for the Office of Budget and Entitlement Policy at Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. Tia is a RESULTS 2024 Organizing and Advocacy Fellow and Outreach and Partnerships Coordinator. She lives with her husband and three children in Hurricane, West Virginia.
In her free time, she enjoys contemporary art, fashion, home décor, reading, and family. Tia is passionate about protecting American consumers and corporations and is a strong proponent for open markets, human rights, and equality for all. Her current focus is slavery reparations, entitlement program solvency, and budget appropriations process reform. While Tia is not black, she supports the fight for equality and stands with BLM. She believes that unearned privilege creates a duty to act against racial inequality and injustices.
Comments