Red Rose Cantata

1973

Alma Thomas

Artist, American, 1891 - 1978

Scarlet-red dashes create loose vertical lines against a bright white background that fill this vertical abstract painting. Most of the dashes are vertical but some slant at an angle. The artist signed and dated the work with white paint in the lower right corner, “AWT 73.”

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    acrylic on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Vincent Melzac

  • Dimensions

    overall: 175.3 x 127 cm (69 x 50 in.)

  • Accession

    1976.6.1

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Scarlet-red dashes create loose vertical lines against a bright white background that fill this vertical abstract painting. Most of the dashes are vertical but some slant at an angle. The artist signed and dated the work with white paint in the lower right corner, “AWT 73.”

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Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Vincent Melzac [1914-1989], Falls Church, Virginia; gift 1976 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1975

  • Alma W. Thomas: Recent Paintings, Howard University Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1975, no. 5, repro.

2014

  • Make it New: Abstract Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, 1950-1975, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, 2014, no. 18, repro..

Bibliography

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 248, repro.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 367, repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: AWT 73

Wikidata ID

Q20197562

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