Red Azaleas Singing and Dancing Rock and Roll Music

Media - 1980.36.2A-C - SAAM-1980.36.2_1 - 83164
Copied Alma Thomas, Red Azaleas Singing and Dancing Rock and Roll Music, 1976, acrylic on canvas, 73 3⁄4 × 158 1⁄2 × 2 1⁄2 in. (187.3 × 402.6 × 6.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist, 1980.36.2A-C

Artwork Details

Title
Red Azaleas Singing and Dancing Rock and Roll Music
Artist
Date
1976
Location
Dimensions
73 3⁄4 × 158 1⁄2 × 2 1⁄2 in. (187.3 × 402.6 × 6.4 cm)
Markings
left panel lower right in acrylic: Alm Thome (sic)/76 center panel lower right in acrylic: AWThomas/'76 right panel lower right in acrylic: AWThomas/76 left panel stretcher center left to center right in felt-tipped pen and ink: "Red Azaleas Singing and Dancing The Rock and Roll Music '76 Triptych No. 3 left to right/Alma/W./Thomas center panel stretcher center left to center right in felt-tipped pen and ink: "Red Azaleas Singing and Dancing Rock and Roll Music" 76 Triptych No 2 left to/right/Alma/W/Thomas/Acrylic/on/canvas right panel stretcher stretcher center left to center right in felt-tipped pen and ink: "Red Azaleas Singing and Dancing Rock and Roll Museum" 1976 From left to right/No. 1/Acrylic/on/Canvas/72"x52"/Triptych/No 1/AT/Left to Right right panel stretcher upper right in felt-tipped pen and ink: Do Not Put a Canvas to this side right panel back center to lower left in felt-tipped pen and ink: 72 x 5 (illegible)
Credit Line
Bequest of the artist
Mediums
Mediums Description
acrylic on canvas
Classifications
Keywords
  • Nonrepresentational
  • Abstract
Object Number
1980.36.2A-C
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1980.36.2A-C

Artwork Description

Do you see that painting? Look at it move. That's energy and I'm the one who put it there. . . .  I transform energy with these old limbs of mine.
--Alma Thomas

This is the largest painting of Alma Thomas's career, created for what would be the last solo exhibition of her lifetime. Thomas painted it on three separate canvases, a format that enabled the artist to achieve ambitious scale despite her declining health and the modest size of her kitchen studio.

As the painting's title suggests, Thomas often listened to music as she worked. Here, bright red forms shimmy across the canvas as if animated by the rhythm of rock and roll.