Exhibit from Smithsonian American Art Museum arrives at Smith College

“Light Blue Nursery,” by Alma Thomas, will be featured in the upcoming exhibition, Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas from the Smithsonian American Art Museum at Smith College Museum of Art from July 24 to Jan. 10, 2027.
Photo credit: Smith College Musuem of Art

NORTHAMPTON — An exhibition featuring the work of abstract painter Alma Thomas is making its way to Smith College Museum of Art. From July 24 to Jan. 10, 2027, the public will have the opportunity to see the work firsthand in one of its final stops on a tour around the country.

Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas from the Smithsonian American Art Museum will showcase the abstract painter’s style through works exploring themes of Space, Earth and Music. The exhibit, which will offer a view of Thomas’ work from 1959-1978, will give people the opportunity to experience SCMA’s own painting by Thomas in dialogue with major works from the Smithsonian’s collection.

In a convergence of institutional collecting and scholarship, Thomas’s “Morning in the Bowl of Night” (1973) — acquired by SCMA in 2018 — will be presented alongside the Smithsonian’s extensive holdings, while Tomas’s “Untitled” (1966) watercolor on paper will be on loan from Sylvia and Byron Lewis Sr.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum connected with Jessica Nicoll, SCMA’s director and chief curator, to inform her of the touring exhibit and see if Smith had interest in hosting. Because Smith College Museum of Art already has a painting by Thomas in its collection closely related to the Smithsonian’s collection, the collaboration seamlessly moved ahead, according to Nicoll.

“Alma Thomas’s innovative spirit and transformative vision feel especially resonant today. We are thrilled to bring Composing Color to SCMA and to showcase our own Thomas holdings within this broader context, offering our community an immersive encounter with an artist who continuously pushed boundaries and embraced the future,” said Nicoll. “We’re proud that, much like at SAAM, coming to SCMA to see Thomas’s work is free for all visitors.”

The Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection of Thomas’s work is the largest public collection in the world. The museum began acquiring Thomas’s art in 1970 and ultimately obtained more than a dozen works while she was alive and 13 more works following her death in 1978.

“Alma Thomas is one of the most significant artists of the 20th century, and we are fortunate at Smith to play a role in stewarding her work. In bringing this exhibition to Smith, we hope that Thomas’s art and her legacy as a painter, public school educator, and community leader will invite our audiences to find inspiration in her paintings and in the many phenomena, places, and ideas that, in turn, inspired her,” said Emma Chubb, Charlotte Fend Ford ’83 Curator of Contemporary Art and organizer of the exhibit.

Thomas gained recognition for her work in the mid-1960s by creating a painting style characterized by the interplay of pattern and vibrant color. The Washington D.C.-based artist and teacher was active in the Washington Color School, and her work became acclaimed. Thomas once said, “Art could be anything. It could be behavior, as long as it’s beautiful.”

“Thomas’s palette of bright colors combined with her distinctive brushwork and structured compositions gives her paintings an unmistakable visual energy. Once you become familiar with her work, it is instantly recognizable,” said Chubb.

“Red Abstraction,” by Alma Thomas, to be featured in the upcoming exhibition, Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas from the Smithsonian American Art Museum at Smith College Museum of Art from July 24 to Jan. 10, 2027.
Photo credit: Smith College Musuem of Art

Composing Color is organized around Thomas’s favored themes of space, earth and music. Her source of inspiration was nature, whether seen through her kitchen window or from outer space.

Thomas’s work also showcases how she embraced the technological and social changes of the 20th century, according to organizers of the exhibit. Her artistic evolution from academic painting to abstraction reflected this attitude — her belief for a “new art representing a new era,” according to organizers. As her career evolved, Thomas adapted her methods to physical challenges from arthritis while maintaining her mastery of color, Chubb said.

“I find that each of Alma Thomas’s paintings has real energy, but seeing a whole floor of the museum filled with her work is just incredible. It’s like the space hums,” said Chubb. “I hope visitors will leave with a deeper appreciation for Thomas’s singular vision and the breadth of her talents. Her work reflects a fascination with the world’s beauty as it is expressed through the natural world, human creativity and technological innovation.”

Chubb added that although Smith College has collected American art since 1879, it only acquired its first work by Thomas in 2018. She said the team at SCMA is thrilled to share more of Thomas’s unique voice and style with audiences in Massachusetts for free, and as the only New England venue for this exhibition’s national tour.

“Alma Thomas’s work rewards close looking and repeat visits, and we hope visitors will come and spend time with the work. In addition, we have a lot of in-person and online programs connected to the exhibition, from talks by art historians to hands-on art-making activities,” said Chubb. “More broadly, this exhibition creates opportunities for audiences of all ages to engage with an important American artist whose work brings together color, experimentation, nature, science and imagination. Creating space for people to spend time with art, make their own connections and come away seeing something differently is central to what we hope to offer at SCMA.”