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SePTer\dBER 28-NorrunaBER 24, L996

A PION EER IN TH E ARTS OF TH E SOUTH,

MARY LEATH THOMASSEPTEM BER 28.NOVEM BER 24, 1996

Time is the mostvaluable possession ofthe creative person. Apainter must be able rcsay no o many demands

which occupy otherpeople. . .

Mry Leath Thomas

These words seem particularlypoignant when considering the lifeof Mary Leath Thomas that endedabruptly at che age of fifty-four wirha heart attack. One might infer charrhis dedicated artist was frugal withmoments spent out of the studio.On the contrary, the list ofThomas's contribucions to the cre-

ative atmosphere of the South inthe 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s i,s so

extensive that it is difficult to be-lieve that the woi-d "no" was in theartist's vocabulary. \Xlhether creat-ing works ofart, teaching, consult-ing, exhibiting, traveling, or en-

gaged in research, MaryThomas ap-

proached these tasks with eagerness

and incensity, despite her limitedtime.1

Born in Hazelhurst, Georgia,in 1905, Mary Thomas received abachelor's degree from Georgia Col-lege in 1930 and began teaching inDurham, North Carolina, whilecompleting her master's degree atDuke Universicy. Within the nextfew years, Thomas quickly became

a Ieader in the field ofart educa-

tion, serving as president of theNorth Carolina Art Teacher's As-

sociarion and chairing ics com-mirtee ro rewrice lhe art secrionof che Course of Study. Shortlythereafter, she was appointed as-

sistant professor of arc at theW'oman's College of the Univer-sicy of Norch Carolina in Greens-

boro. Her personal search as an

artist led her to take summercourses at the University of Chi-cago in 1940 where she met thepainrer Howard Thomas.

Five years later, the two art-ists married and setrled in Athens,Georgia, where Howard was ap-

pointed professor of arc at theUniversity of Georgia. Marytaught at the university as welland served as a consultant to At-lanta schools and the South Caro-

lina Department of Education.During the same period, she was

vice president ofthe SoutheasternArts Association and collaboratedwith her husband on a bookabouc design for which the couplereceived a Carnegie Granc-in-Aid.About that time, Mary Thomas'sgouache, Muted Birds, receledsecond prize in che 1947 NorthCarolina Art Society Annual Ex-

hibition. The abstract nature ofthis image caused a stir among anaudience unfamiliar with modernapproaches to art which, as a re-

sult, were thoroughly debated inthe regional press.

In 1950, Thomas was offered

the posicion of art supervisor forthe Athens School System. Artclasses in the district were in cheirformative stages; only a few years

earlier Mrs. Hampton Rowland,principal of Chase Streec E1emen-

tary, receled approval to hire a

graduate student, Miss JeffieLanders (soon to become Mrs. JackRowland), from che university's artdepartment to teach fourth grade

for half che day and art the otherhalf. By 1950, when Mary Thomaswas appointed art supervisor, theprogram had expanded to includeAthens' four other elementaryschools and within the nexc fewyears, classes were offered at thejunior and high school levels. Theart supervisor's responsibilities in-cluded visiting each class once aweek to initiate apartrcular art ac-

tivity. Thomas often presentedoriginal works of art for group dis-cussion and demonstrated specifictechniques. The supervisor thenprovided materials and guidance as

students created their own works.The following week Thomas wouldrelurn to critique the completedworks and follow up with a relatedassignment.

Those who knew Thomas re-

call her gentle yet commandingpresence chac facilitated learningamong students and inspired theinvolvement of classroom teachers,

administrators, parents, and thepublic. To prepare area teachers co

assist her and co encourage them co

develop their own art projects, Tho-mas led specialized workshops insubjects such as drawing and clay

modeling on Saturdays at theuniversity's Fine Arts Building andlater, at che newly established Geor-gia Museum ofArc, then located onche ground floor of the library on

north campus. During these meet-ings she would introduce new ma-

terials and techniques, frequentlythrough the presentation and dis-

cussion of work by visiting profes-sional artists as well as the worksin the museum's collection. She en-

couraged teachers to share ideas

and lesson plans with one another.Eventually, these workshops were

augmenced to include teachersfrom rhroughour Georgia in an as-

sembly of educators that prefiguredthe School Arts Symposium co-

sponsored annually by the GeorgiaMuseum of Art and the LarnarDodd School of Art. Thomas in-vited schooi administrators, offic-ers of the Parent-Teacher Associa-

tion, and members of the Board ofEducation to parricipate in hopes

thac their greater understandingand appreciation ofthe visual artswould result in increased resources

for scudents. She sought patronagefrom local businesses and acquireda variety of materials and equip-ment, including kilns for firing clay.

Under Mary Thomas's leader-

ship, students'work appeared inshows throughouc the city at localbusinesses and the-county fair as

well as in the Clarke Counq, SchoolArt Exhibition shown at the Geor-gia Museum of Art annually formany years. As the program ex-

panded into the higher grades, so

did rhe curriculum. incorporaringadvanced mechods in such media as

watercolor, copper enameling, ce-

ramics, and linoleum and wood-cuts, as well as drypoint cechniques

in printmaking. Thomas shared herideas and the achievements of herstudents and fellow teachers withart educators across the nationthrough articles published inSchool Arts, Art and Activirres, and

Scholastic Magazine. Thanks toher efforcs, twenty Clarke Countysrudents were honored with cita-tions in the Nacional SchoiasticArt Awards in one year.

While making such contribu-tions to art education in theSouth, Thomas continued her ca-

reer as an arrisr working in warer-

color, gouache, etching, lithogra-phy, and diverse materials such as

Checklist NumberTwelve

lacquer and enamel on copper.Three images from che eariy1950s, each entitled Sea Shapes,

reveal Thomas's interest in work-ing in series. The gouache fromthis group presents simplifiedplant and animal forms from the

ocean floor and is charactert-zed

by scumbled and scratched layers

of thick paint in a nearly neutralcolor scheme (Checklist No. 12).

The anguished eyes of urchinseerily peer out ar the viewer. The

overall effect of chis and corre-

sponding images, as well as the

grid-like arrangement empha-sized by che segmentation of cop-

per plates in the enamel, reveals

Thomas's affinity with the mod-ern master Paul Klee. Much ofKlee's work, which became widelyknown in the United States as a

result of his retrospective ac theMuseum of Modern Art in 1941, is

distinguished by its flattened space

and use of primal symbols thatevoke a sense ofmyscery and oftentragedy. Having given asmall paper-

back book ofcolor reproductions to

Jeffie Landers Rowland for "inspi-ration" in her teaching, Thomaswas evidently well acquainted withKlee's work. Furthermore, Maryand Howard Thomas are said tohave referred frequently in conver-sation to the Swiss artist's Peda-

gogical Sketchbook, a collection ofnores and illusrrarions concerningvisual principles Klee taught at theBauhaus. The subject matter andcomposicion of Sea Sfiapes may also

have been inspired by a work by an-

other European painter; WassilyKandinsky's Capricious Forms(1937) depicts various sea life in acomparable design.

It is important to menrion thework ofAdolph Gottlieb, anAmeri-can artist also inspired by the ab-

stract surrealism of Klee andKandinsky.2 In the 1940s Gottliebcreated a series of "Pictographs"consisting of irregular grids filledwith emblematic objects drawnfrom a variety of sources to whichThomas's Sea Shapes and otherworks bear a striking similarity.One source of inspiration forGottlieb was the art of NativeAmerican cultures from the North-west. In 7948 Mary and HowardThomas drove to California and re-

turned to Georgia via New Mexico,where the couple stopped to studythe art and artifacts native to theregion. This trip as well as the se-

ries of "petroglyph bird" images

produced by Mary in the followingyears indicates a keen awareness ofand interest in che most recent

r - :-: --: .rintempOfary art, in thiSr : ,,-.: :-ascination with and at--:-: -- imirare rhe unrque ex-

: -:. , .-:ess of art produced by: - --..::-. e cultures. Thomas':.::.: :*Jh insights, as well as a- - - .i:crvledge oI arrisrs. pasr

-"-: ::.i3nr. $.ith southern audi-- : . . : .-:i rhrough her own works

'---: .::j her teaching..- :,.uache srudy, intaglio prinr

, ..:.:.:s: No. 1), and an enamel:-r:::sa another series, this one

::: --::1S birds ofvarious sizes and. -;-:=,-:ers along electrical wires.- - - :':.e Singing Wires. isparticu-;.:-', i:ring as rhe image rakes on

- - : --:rir zCter of musical nocation,'.-- --i:ds actingas notes andwires

.::.:::i as bars of the staff. The ar-'::_i.:r1ent of these avian figuresj * r_i.srs a rhythm from left ro righr:' .r:il. This light-hearred image

-'. :erhaps inspired by rhe collec-

-.--r Lrtpigeons owned by a friend.:: '.i';rich Thomas is said ro have:'. -:J great amusement.

-\lrhough conrinuing as a con-. --:anr. Mary Thomas retired from-.-.: posirion oI arr supervisor in-i56. and larer rhar year, rheI::omases commenced a five-:-icnrh trip around rhe world visir-:rq Turkey, India, Java, Bali, Hongrong, andJapan. Following rhis ex-

--'ision, retirement allowed the art-'ii to [-ocus attention once again on.rer creative career. An entry dated\ovember 8, 1958, from HowardThomas's diary inciudes rhe sen-:ence, "Mary painted all day on a

^arge lacquer with mecal leaf." Thisnay have been a frequent siruationJuring rhis period as rhe arrisr com-pleted an impressive number ofn'orks; parricularly norable is rhe"White Lady" series. An enamel oncopper and an unsigned lithograph

(Checklist No. 10) from rhisgroup portray a red-hairedwoman in white looking rou,ardthe viewer, her features reduced tosimple lines and shapes; the Face

is similar to that of the womanin Paul Klee's Mother and Child(1938). Behind her srands anorherwoman) wearing a white veil,whose form merges wirh that of ascately chicken, its wing evidenralong the right side of rhe image.An exchange between the rwowomen occurs as a hand extendsfrom the right; this hand alsoserves as the tail feathers of a

small red bird. In this work as wellas a similar lacquer and leaf piece(Checklist No. 4), a face, irs fea-tures distorted wichin the shapeof a single eye, hovers above.While the veiled woman has dis-appeared in the lacquer, rhe red-haired figure is now crowned. Itis obvious that she is pregnant,and in her hand, a bird stands onspindly legs. Birds frequently ap-pear in images of classical themesas an attribute of Juno, wife ofJupiter. According to Roman my-thology,Juno is the protectress ofwomen. warching over marriageand childbirth. The exchange de-picted in the print and enamelpieces may then be read as an an-nunciation scene, complete witha representation ofthe holy spiritpresiding over rlre evenr. an in-triguing interpretation consider-ingThomas never had children ofher own. Perhaps Thomas rnrer-prered rhe scene as representingrhe gi[L ol- creative inspirarionwith various birds symbolizingthe "soul" of the artist, a gift thisparticular artist most certainlytreasured.

Though brief, Mary

Thomas's life was ful1 of successes.

She exhibited ar many presiigiousinstitutions including rhe Pennsyl-vania Academy of the Fine Arrs, theMetropolitan Museum of Art, andthe Brooklyn Museum of Art, andher work appears in the collectionsof the Virginia Museum of FineArts, the High Museum of Art, rheNorth Carolina Museum of Arr,and several others. As an art super-visor. Tlromas r nspired generarionsof students and teachers through-out Georgia and beyond ro expioreand use cheir creative abilities; she

accepted only quality work while in-stilling confidence in all those she

insrructed as well as an apprecia-tion for the visual world. Accord-ing toJetEe Landers Rowland, Marywas not just a "supervisor" butrather "a friend who was there rohelp" with an approach rhat madelearning easy, both in the classroomand during teacher conferences. Inall aspects ofher life, whether dem-onstrating a watercolor techniquein front oFa group or parienrly cre-ating in her studio, Thomas workedwith an intensity to which manyonly aspire. We are fortunate to en-joy the products of these diligenrand far-reaching efforts, the echoes

ofwhich continue to resound in ourregion's schools, as well as in r1-re

engaging paintings, drawings, and

prints of Mary Leath Thomas.

JosrnurNr BrooocoooCuratorMuseum Srudies Program

' The author thanks Anne Vall Thomas,Jeffre

Landers Ror,land, Dr. Robert\V Nix, Vrilliam D. Paul

Jr., Lamar Dodd, and InezJohnston for sharing cheirpersonal recollections concerning Thomas's life and

creative influences as well asJenniler Casserly for herinitial research.

2 SanFord Hirsh, ed., The Picrographs ofAddph Gotdieb (New York: Hudson Hills Press,

199.1), passim.

CH ECI<LIST 6.

OFTHEEXH IBITION

2.

Singing Wires, 1952Color intagliol0 314 x 74 lf 4 rnches

(platemark)L3 x 18 lf 2 inches (sheet)

Collection of Mrs. ElbertAllison Farlow

Singing Wires, c. 7952Enamei on copper platesmounted on plywood1,7 x 1,4 lf2 inchesCollecrion of Anne WallThomas

Sketch for SingingWires, c. 1952Gouache on paper14 ll2 x 19 lf 2 inchesGeorgia Museum of Art.University of Georgia;gift of Anne \X/all

ThomascMoA 94.98

White Lady withBird, t957Lacquer and leafonmasonice

1,1314x3 Lf2inchesCollection of Anne WaliThomas

King ,7957Lacquer and leafonmasonite1,2x33f4rnchesCollection oflnezJohnston

4.

9.

White Angel,195B-59Lacquer and leafonmasonite12x33f4rnchesCollection oflnezJohnston

ln Search ofNirvana, 1957

Lacquer and leafonmasonite12 x 4 rnches

Collection of AnneWal1 Thomas

Bird Forms, c. 1957

Lacquer and leafonmasonite12 x 4 inchesColiection of AnneWall Thomas

Untitled (WhiteLady with Bird), c. 1.957

Enamel on copper plareB x 4 inchesCollection of AnneWall Thomas

Untitled (WhiteLady), c.7957Color lithograph15 ll4 x7 5f 8 inches(image)

1,9 15l16 x 13 inches(sheet)

Collection of Mrs.Elbert Allison Farlow

Revival,1955Lacquer and leafonmasonite36 314 x 15 inches

Collection ofLeath F.

Finley

12.

13.

Sea Forms, 1952Gouache on board14 1,14 x 11 inchesCollection of AnneWall Thomas

Sea Forms, c. 1952Enamel on copper platesmounted on masonite14 ll2 x ll ll4 inchesCollection ofAnne WallThomas

Sea Shapes,1952Color lithograph13 718 x l0 lf 2 inches(image)

78 x 12 7f I inches(sheec)

Collecrion of Mrs. ElberL

Allison Farlow

U n ti tl ed ( Ch i cke ns ), n.d.Gouache on paper1,4 ll2 x 18 1/2 inchesGeorgia Museum of Art,University of Georgia;gift ofJeffie andJackRowland in honor oF Mr.

and Mrs. HamptonRowlandGMOA 95.38

We Bought A Fish,1945Gouache on paperL7 7 lB x 28 lf 2 inchesGeorgia Museum of Art,University of Georgia;Eva Underhill HolbrookMemorial Collection ofAmerican Art; gift of AlfredH. Holbrook, 1946

ctr,toe 46.0114

7.

14.

8.

15.

10.

16.

11

5.

ACI<NOWLEDC EM ENTS

This exhibition is a projecr of rhe Museum Srudies Program

at the Georgia Museum of Art. The sraff extends its grari-tude to the curator,Josephine Bloodgood, ro the lenders ofthe works, and particularly to Anne Wa11 Thomas for her

assistance and guidance.

Wrluev U. ErL.cNo

Director

Mary Leath Thomas laid the foundation for art educarion

programs in the Athens public schools. She cared for teach-

ers and students, and through art, taught them an apprecra-

tion and enjoyment for the "finer thrngs in life." She inspired

teachers and students in a quiet, gentle manner and 1ed them

from 1o11ipop "trees," patterns, and copy work to creative art

activities. Mary shared what she learned from her own art

experiences with Athens students and teachers and was al-

ways a friend, not a supervisor to then. For tl-rose she taught

and for those who taught with her, and especially for me,

Mary remains a guiding light in art education.

Jrrnr LeNorns RowlaNoDocent, Georgia Museum of Art

Partial support for the exhibirions and programs For rhe Georgia Museum of Art is provided by the Georgia Council for the Arts through

appropriations oF the Georgia General Assembly and the National Endownent for the Arts. A portion of the museurn's general operating

support for this year has been provided through the Institute ofMuseum Services, a lederal agency that ofFers general operaring srLpporr ro

the nation's museums. Individuals, foundations, and corporations provide additional support through their gil'ts to rhe Univer-

sity of Georgia Foundarion. The Georgia Museum of Arr's hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and

Saurday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fnday; and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Cover: Checklist Number Four

706.542.GMOA

Checklist Number One

Checklist NumberTen