The Fine Art of Alan Wood-Thomas: Index

Pen and Ink

Paintings

"In any art, we all deal with the same basic things. An emotional or artistic expression occurs only when an artist presents us with a vision that is strictly his own. When he does, he opens new doors for us to places we didn’t suspect existed."

Alan Wood-Thomas

This site is dedicated to the life long works of Alan Wood-Thomas. It is difficult to lump his paintings into any one school or category, for he painted in many styles, including impressionism, surrealism, cubism, realism, and abstractionism. His artwork is an emotional portrayal of his own personal feelings of the seasons, humanity, and nature. His artwork shows poetic realism, from his graceful interpretation of the nude female to his dramatic depiction of his emotional turmoil during WWII. Alan once said, "As I am aware of the ugliness and misery, so I am aware of the beauty that can be found in this world. I try to express my love for people, children and nature."

Alan was born in Paris on Jan. 16, 1920 into a family of artists. He lived a fulfilling life until his death in 1976 in Connecticut, where he died of Lou Gerhig's disease. Below we have placed a few of his pieces so you can see the beauty of his work.

Most of Alan's masterpieces were done on paper or canvas. He created a total of seven hundred paintings on thick weighted paper and sixty on canvas. Twenty five of his canvas pieces are either part of a gallery collection or a private collection. Thirty Five of these are still held by his family. In 1967 Alan was commissioned by the Justice Department to do the portrait of Nicholas deB. Katzenbach, Former Secretary of State to Kennedy and Former Attorney General. This painting is now hanging on the fifth floor of the Justice Department. His portrayal of Katzenbach was the first portrait of a high government official to break with tradition.

During his career as an artist, Alan Wood-Thomas created over fifteen hundred pen and ink drawings. The majority of his work was done of the nude female. Other work, however, expressed his deep feelings relating to WWII and the atrocities he witnessed. Of interest is that he often described to his family that he left his body and watched himself go to the canvas and paint. Other times he watched his hand create the drawing.You can see the influence of Picasso and Matisse in his work. He felt very close to Picasso and once had lunch with him in Paris during WWII.

Etchings are an "intaglio" (Italian for "cut in") method of artwork in which damp sheets of paper, held under great pressure, draw ink out of recessed areas of masters or plates. These plates are generally copper but can also be zinc, aluminum, or steel.

Alan Wood-Thomas did over 200 etchings before his death in 1976. Fourteen of these were a series entitled ''The Death of Picasso', they are some of the most beautiful pieces Alan produced. All fourteen pieces are available for viewing here on this site.