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Alma Thomas. The Eclipse, 1970. Acrylic/canvas. 62" x 50". Corcoran Gallery of Art

Jacob Lawrence. The Migration of the Negro, 41. ("The South that was interested in keeping cheap labor was making it difficult for labor agents recruiting Southern labor for Northern firms. In many instances, they were jailed and were forced to operate incognito.") Tempra on board, 18" x 12"

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as in her excellent Dogwood Display, No. 1, which has an overlay of translucent white bars floated on a field of brilliant reds, purples, yellows, and pale blues.

Although the pictures are predominantly abstract, they take their cues from nature, and consequently evoke the shimmer of a sunrise, cosmic views of outer space (inspired by the astronauts's landing on the moon), and blankets of blossoms and tree leaves. All in all, Miss Thomas has come up with a very savvy synthesis of Kenneth Noland, Gene Davis, Neo-Impressionism and perhaps one or two other things, emerging as an uncommonly lyrical, yet forceful painter. Who would have guessed that Alma Thomas, at the age of 77, would be the undisputed doyenne of Washington color painting?

One of the greatest migrations in United States history occurred between the two world wars, when there was a massive exodus of blacks from the American South. Living conditions had become so intolerable there that southern Negroes fled in great numbers to points north and west, hoping to find a better life. This hegira was compassionately chronicled during its later stages (1940-41) by the black artist Jacob Lawrence in a series of 60 paintings, collectively titles The Migration of the Negro. Painted when the artist was only 24 years old, the panels (all of them are painted in tempera on 12 x 18-inch composition board) show just about every facet of Negro life in the south, as well as some of the ordeals that awaited blacks elsewhere. Each picture is accompanied by its own legend, written by Lawrence. The first in the series show a railroad station with a dense crowd of stylized figures rushing through three gates, marked Chicago, New York and St. Louis. The 25th in the series, captioned "After a while some communities were left and almost bare", shows the corner of an empty room with rustic brown wooden floor and walls, and a green shade pulled down over the window.

Shortly after the series was completed, it was shown at the Downtown Gallery in New York; the Museum of Modern Art

Jacob Lawrence. The Migration of the Negro, 25. ("After a while some communities were left almost bare.") Tempera on board, 18" x 12". From the series of 60 paintings, executed in 1940-41, recently shown in the galleries of the Phillips Collection

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