Red Azaleas Singing and Dancing Rock and Roll Music

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: Alma Thomas
Date: 1976
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
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3rd Floor
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North Wing
Dimensions: 73 ³⁄₄ × 158 ¹⁄₂ × 2 ¹⁄₂ in. (187.3 × 402.6 × 6.4 cm)
Credit Line: Bequest of the artist
Mediums: acrylic
Mediums Description: acrylic on canvas
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: 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.