Yvonne Thomas

American, born France, 1913–2009

The Abstract Expressionist artist Yvonne Thomas’ lyrical and sophisticated abstractions are prized for their interrogations into the symbolic possibilities of color. French born, Thomas immigrated to the United States in 1925 where she worked as a fashion illustrator and commercial artist. In 1938, she abandoned this practice to pursue a full time career as a painter, beginning her formal studies at The Cooper Union and the Art Students League.

Patricia Matta (wife of the Surrealist Roberto Matta), provided Thomas with an introduction in 1948 and she enrolled as one of only five students in the “Subjects of the Artist” school, run by Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, William Baziotes, David Hare and Clyfford Still. Although the experimental school was short lived (only a year), engagement with the work of these artists proved to be an essential experience for Thomas’ artistic development. In the following years Thomas continued to study with Motherwell and Hans Hofmann.

Yvonne Thomas’ work is represented in the collections of numerous museums, including: the Fonds National d’Art Contemporai; Paris, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the National Gallery of Art; Washington D.C., and the Riverside Museum, New York.

Courtesy Hollis Taggart