Lionel Thomas
(1915–)
(–2005)
Lionel Thomas
1915–2005
Lionel Thomas (1915-2005), also known as Lionel Arthur John Thomas, was a Canadian artist born in Toronto, Ontario. He studied at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco under Mark Rothko. Thomas is best known for his sculptures, drawings, prints, easel, and mural paintings.
In 1940, Thomas married Patricia Simmons with whom he frequently collaborated, and the two moved to Vancouver, British Columbia. Thomas, at times in collaboration with his wife, is best known for his abstract murals of landscapes, cityscapes, and still lifes which are in both museums and public spaces. Thomas’ favourite mediums include gouache, oil paint, charcoal, enamel, and foil on metal.
While his early career focused on painting, Thomas’ focus switched to sculpture and murals around 1956.
Between 1944 to 1950, Thomas was an instructor at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art and Design), and from 1950 to 1959, he taught at the School of Architecture at the University of British Columbia. Thomas was an associate professor of fine arts at the University of British Columbia until 1981.
Between the 1950s to the 1970s, Thomas exhibited his works both nationally and internationally. His works are in the permanent collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, and the Vancouver Art Gallery. He has exhibited at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Hart House in Toronto, the Grand Central Galleries in New York, and the Biennials in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Seoul, South Korea.