White Roses Sing and Sing

Alma Thomas, White Roses Sing and Sing, 1976, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist, 1980.36.3
Alma Thomas, White Roses Sing and Sing, 1976, acrylic on canvas, 72 1⁄2 x 52 3⁄8 in. (184.1 x 133.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist, 1980.36.3

Artwork Details

Title
White Roses Sing and Sing
Artist
Date
1976
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
72 1⁄2 x 52 3⁄8 in. (184.1 x 133.0 cm)
Credit Line
Bequest of the artist
Mediums
Mediums Description
acrylic on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Object — flower — rose
  • Abstract
Object Number
1980.36.3
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1980.36.3

Artwork Description

White Roses Sing and Sing is non-representational yet strongly evocative of the natural world. Translucent pale forms float over a background of shifting green and yellow—a luminous image perhaps related to Thomas’s memories of her childhood home in Columbus, Georgia, in a neighborhood called Rose Hill. She once remarked that it “was rightly named because roses bloomed there almost the year round.” She also recalled that as a child exploring the outdoors she heard “singing [and] talking sounds in all things.”

Exhibitions

Alma Thomas, The Eclipse, 1970, acrylic on canvas
Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas
September 15, 2023–August 4, 2024
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The exhibition Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas provides an intimate view of Alma Thomas’ evolving artistic practices during her most prolific period from 1959 to her death in 1978.