"I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO CREATE A VISUAL EXPERIENCE THAT IS BOTH IMMEDIATE AND COMPELLING."
Born in Nice, France, in 1913, Yvonne Patricia Thomas emigrated to the United States with her family in 1925, initially settling in Boston before moving to New York. She briefly attended Cooper Union but turned to commercial work as a fashion illustrator when her family faced financial difficulties during the Great Depression. In 1938, Thomas pursued her passion for art by enrolling at the Art Students League, where she studied under Vaclav Vytacil and Dmitri Romanovsky, and further refined her skills at the Ozenfant School of Fine Art with Amadée Ozenfant.
Thomas’s career took a significant turn when she joined the Subjects of the Artists School in 1948, a collaborative environment with leading figures of the American avant-garde, including Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko. This formative experience deepened her commitment to modernist principles. Under the influence of Hans Hofmann, whom she studied with in Provincetown, Massachusetts, in 1950, Thomas embraced a more gestural and expressive style, moving away from her earlier Cubist influences.
Her work gained recognition through the Ninth Street Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture in 1951 and subsequent shows at Stable Gallery. Thomas’s first solo exhibition was at Hendler Gallery in Philadelphia in 1954, followed by significant exhibitions at Tanager Gallery and other venues throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Her style evolved from Cubist structures to a freer, more gestural approach, which was celebrated in reviews by Stuart Preston and Dore Ashton.
Thomas’s later works were exhibited in solo shows in New York, Paris, and Montreal. Despite her significant contributions to Abstract Expressionism, Thomas's recognition did not match her male contemporaries. Her work was featured posthumously in the 2016 Women of Abstract Expressionism exhibition at the Denver Art Museum, highlighting her essential role in the movement.