Abstract Saturday: Alma Woodsey Thomas

(American, 1891 - 1978) Alma Thomas was the first African-American woman to have a solo art exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, in 1971. She was 80 years old. She returned to painting after retiring from her long career as a school teacher.

Alma Thomas, Untitled, 1960 — Alma Thomas, *Untitled*, 1960

Alma Thomas, White Daisies Rhapsody - 1973 — Alma Thomas, White Daisies Rhapsody - 1973

Alma Thomas, Azaleas in Spring, 1968 — Alma Thomas, *Azaleas in Spring*, 1968

Alma Thomas, WASHINGTON, DC, 1967 — Alma Thomas, **WASHINGTON, DC, 1967**

Alma Thomas, 'Fall Approaching,' 1969, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery

Alma Thomas, Untitled, acrylic on paper, 8 x 9 1/2 inches — Alma Thomas, **Untitled**, acrylic on paper, 8 x 9 1/2 inches

Alma Thomas, Untitled, ca. 1960, oil on canvas. — Alma Thomas, *Untitled*, ca. 1960, oil on canvas.

Abstract Saturday: Renato Birolli (1905 - 1959)

Renato Birolli, ANVERSA 1957 via Sotheby's — Renato Birolli, ANVERSA 1957 via Sotheby's

Renato Birolli - L'Augurio di Birolli, 1954

Renato Birolli, Ondulazione Marina, 1955 via

Renato Birolli, Materia e spazio, 1958 — Renato Birolli, Materia e spazio, 1958

Aaron Birnbaum, memory painter

He was a dress manufacturer who took up painting at the age of 70 and became a beloved folk artist. His daughter brought him paints and art supplies to help ease the loneliness after the death of his wife. A year before his death at the age of 103 in 1998, Birnbaum went to the opening of a retrospective of his work at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Ridgefield, Conn. "When they arrived for the opening, Mr. Schuss recalled, Mr. Birnbaum seemed humbled, saying, 'If I would have known my paintings were going to a museum, I would have worked a little longer on them.'" — 1998 NYT obituary.