Although she’s best known for her vibrant and textural collage portraits of Black women, contemporary artist Mickalene Thomas is in fact a master of many mediums, including photography, video, sculpture and printmaking. Born in Camden, New Jersey, and raised by her mother, a fashion model, Thomas enrolled in after-school art classes at the Newark Museum of Art in Newark, New Jersey, and the Henry Street Settlement in New York City as a child. Later, she would earn fine art degrees from Pratt Institute and Yale University.
Inspired in part by her strong, matriarchal upbringing and her own identity as a queer Black woman, Thomas focuses on female power, beauty and sexuality in her works. She cites a 1990s-era exhibition of Carrie Mae Weems’s work at the Portland Art Museum in Oregon as being critically important to her becoming an artist. In her work, Thomas commonly pulls from the art history canon, riffing frequently on the styles and compositions of early modernists such as Gustave Courbet, Édouard Manet and Henri Matisse, as well as more contemporary artists like Romare Bearden and David Hockney. She recontextualizes their paintings by restaging them with Black subjects, using signature materials like rhinestones, enamel and acrylic paint to profound effect. Relatedly, for a collaboration with Dior, Thomas reinvented the house’s iconic Bar jacket and Lady Dior handbag to become, essentially, wearable Claude Monet landscapes.
Thomas also investigates the idea of Black celebrity in her work, painting portraits of such Black icons as Whitney Houston, Oprah Winfrey and Eartha Kitt. In 2008, Thomas painted the first individual silkscreen portrait of then–First Lady Michelle Obama, which was exhibited for the first time in the National Portrait Gallery’s “Americans Now” show.
Thomas’s work can be found in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Brooklyn Museum of Art, among others. She has received such accolades as the Timerhi Award for Leadership in the Arts in 2010, the Brooklyn Museum Asher B. Durand Award in 2012 and the Anonymous Was a Woman Award in 2013. In 2015, Thomas was named a USA Francie Bishop Good & David Horvitz Fellow.
Find Mickalene Thomas’s art on 1stDibs today.
Interior: Red Couch and Landscape
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Mickalene Thomas (b.1971) is an American artist exploring the intersection of popular culture and art history, through a contemporary Black female gaze. As an openly gay Black woman,...
Varnish, Glitter, Archival Pigment, Screen
Mickalene Thomas - Maya #10
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in London, GB
Maya, 2024 UV pigment print on 410gsm Somerset Tub Sized Radiant White paper with 4 metallic silkscreen glitter and shimmer layers, a CMYK silkscreen central panel and matte varnish ...
Pigment, Screen
$10,000Sale Price|20% Off
Mickalene Thomas Lovely Six Foota Signed Archival Print Limited Edition of 25
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Minneapolis, MN
Artist: Mickalene Thomas Title: Lovely Six Foota Medium: Archival Pigment Print on Wove Paper Size: 16.125" x 20" Edition: 3/25 Inscription: Signed, titled, dated and numbered on ver...
Paper, Archival Pigment
Mickalene Thomas, Portrait de Priscilla Le Petit Chien official COA S/N, Framed
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in New York, NY
Mickalene Thomas Portrait de Priscilla Le Petit Chien, 2012 Pigment print on 100% cotton rag paper Edition 141/150 Frame included with official COA affixed to the back Hand numbered ...
Laid Paper, Permanent Marker, Digital Pigment
Mickalene Thomas - October, 1950 - Contemporary Art, Artist Plate
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in London, GB
'October, 1950' by Mickalene Thomas - Artist Plate Fine Bone China Edition of 250 Printed signature and edition details on verso comes with the original presentation box. Mickalene ...
Ceramic
MICKALENE THOMAS "UNTITLED" (BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL) USA, 2017
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Pembroke Pines, FL
Mickalene Thomas "Untitled" (Black is Beautiful) USA, 2017 Inkjet print Signed and numbered by the artist From an edition of 100 14"H 11"W (work) Framed Approx: 22"H x 17"W Excellent...
Inkjet
Screen Test
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Mickalene Thomas (b.1971) is an American artist exploring the intersection of popular culture and art history, through a contemporary Black female gaze. As an openly gay Black woman,...
Screen
Portrait of a Lovely Six Foota #1
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Fort Lauderdale, FL
Mickalene Thomas Portrait of a Lovely Six Foota #1, 2009, (24/50 + 5 AP) Archival Pigment Print 14 x 11 in Published by The Lapis Press, to benefit the Institute of Contemporary Art...
Archival Pigment
Tiffona Lisa #2
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Mickalene Thomas (b.1971) is an American artist exploring the intersection of popular culture and art history, through a contemporary Black female gaze. As an openly gay Black woman,...
Ceramic
Price Upon Request
Kindred Spirits, Tamika and Qusuquzah Sitting on Couch
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in New York, NY
Multidisciplinary artist Mickalene Thomas’ portraits critically deconstruct accepted definitions of beauty, race, and gender, specifically in relation to black women. Known for her ...
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
Hot! Wild! Unrestricted!
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in New York, NY
C-Print 24 x 30 inches
$1,500
H 19 in W 13 in
Signed Limited Edition Feminist Contemporary Art Print - Gloria Steinem 812
By Linda Stein
Located in New York, NY
Linda Stein, Gloria Steinem 812 - Signed Limited Edition Feminist Contemporary Art Print Linda Stein considers her Women of Courage Mood Portraits series a feminist labor of love. ...
Archival Pigment
$300
H 36 in W 24 in
Matt Ferguson - Spiderman: Homecoming - Contemporary Cinema Movie Film Posters
By Matt Ferguson
Located in Asheville, NC
Spiderman: Homecoming Spider-Man: Homecoming is a 2017 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, co-produced by Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the second Spider-Man film reboot and the 16th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Jon Watts, from a screenplay by the writing teams of Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, Watts and Christopher Ford, and Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. Tom Holland stars as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, alongside Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Jacob Batalon, Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori, Bokeem Woodbine, Tyne Daly, Marisa Tomei, and Robert Downey Jr. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter Parker tries to balance high school life with being Spider-Man while facing the Vulture. Artists: Ferguson, Matt Edition Details Year: 2020 Class: Cinema Status: Official Released: 07/16/20 Run: 300 Technique: Screen Print Size: 24 X 36 Markings: Numbered About Artist: "Matt Ferguson...
Archival Paper, Color, Digital, Laser, Giclée, Pigment, Archival Pigment...
$2,235
H 27.56 in W 27.56 in
Victor Vasarely, Untitled - Signed Print from 1966, Op-Art, Abstract Geometric
By Victor Vasarely
Located in Hamburg, DE
Victor Vasarely (Hungarian-French, 1906-1997) Untitled, ca. 1966 Medium: Screen print on card Dimensions: 27 3/5 × 27 3/5 in (70 × 70 cm) Edition of 100: Hand-signed in pencil, not n...
Screen
$2,448
H 3.35 in W 2.76 in D 1.58 in
Ruth Duckworth, Full Tea Service, 1972, Stoneware and Glaze
By Ruth Duckworth
Located in London, GB
Ruth Duckworth Full Tea Service (INV# NP3746), 1972 Stoneware and glaze teapot: 8.25 x 7 x 3.5” creamer: 3.25 x 2 x 2.25” sugar bowl: 1.5 x 3.25” approx. cup: 3 x 2.5 x 1.75” approx....
Stoneware, Glaze
Contemporary Black Porcelain Dahlia Wall Sculpture
Located in Savannah, GA
This contemporary porcelain wall sculpture by Heather Knight, founder of Element Clay Studio (est. 2007), is a large-scale work exploring botanical form through repetition, symmetry,...
Ceramic, Porcelain
Faithful Companion, Samode Palace, 2020
By Karen Knorr
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes framing with UV plexi ($1,700 value), free shipping to the continental USA, and a 14-day return policy. Also available for local pick up from our New York gallery. A Faithful...
Photographic Paper, Color, Pigment, Archival Pigment
$1,350
H 8.5 in W 8.5 in D 2.5 in
Aubrieta Contemporary Porcelain Wall Sculpture, Floral Inspired, 2025
Located in Savannah, GA
“Aubrieta” is a contemporary porcelain wall sculpture by Heather Knight, founder of Element Clay Studio (est. 2007), a Savannah-based studio recognized for organic modern ceramic wor...
Ceramic, Porcelain
The Busty Dog
By Marc Zimmerman
Located in Carmel, CA
This masterpiece is exhibited in the Zimmerman Gallery, Carmel CA. Dive into the whimsical realm of mystique with this utterly enchanting totem. Crafted with meticulous detail, this...
Clay, Wood, Glaze
Paul Mann - Frankenstein - Contemporary Cinema Movie Posters
By Paul Mann
Located in Asheville, NC
Frankenstein Frankenstein is a 1931 American science fiction horror film directed by James Whale, produced by Carl Laemmle Jr., and adapted from a 1927 play by Peggy Webling, which in turn was based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Frankenstein stars Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein, an obsessed scientist who digs up corpses with his assistant in order to assemble a living being from body parts. The resulting creature, often known as Frankenstein's monster, is portrayed by Boris Karloff. The make-up for the monster was provided by Jack Pierce. Alongside Clive and Karloff, the film's cast also includes Mae Clarke, John Boles, Dwight Frye, and Edward Van Sloan. Artist: Mann, Paul Edition Details Year: 2020 Class: Cinema Status: Official Released: 07/14/20 Run: 165 Technique: Offset Lithograph Paper: 300gsm archival paper Size: 24 X 36 Markings: Numbered About Artist: For more than 40 years, Paul Mann...
Archival Paper, Color, Digital, Laser, Giclée, Pigment, Archival Pigment...
Marfa Moonrise
By Kristin Moore
Located in New Orleans, LA
Archival pigment ink print on Hahnemuhle cotton paper, edition 7 of 30. In this new series of paintings, Moore explores themes of wanderlust and memory. From glowing neon signage, t...
Rag Paper, Archival Pigment
$650
H 36 in W 24 in
Bob Gleason - Halloween 40th Anniversary Ed. - Contemporary Cinema Movie Poster
Located in Asheville, NC
Halloween 40th Anniversary Screen Print by Bob Gleason: To celebrate one of our favorite film franchise’s 40th anniversary, a phenomenal looking new...
Archival Paper, Color, Digital, Laser, Giclée, Pigment, Archival Pigment...
$1,200
H 15.5 in W 9 in D 7 in
Tupuna Series #2, ancestors cloak, Maori ceramic sculptor Wi Taepa, leather ties
By Wi Taepa
Located in Santa Fe, NM
Tupuna Series #2, ancestors cloak, Maori ceramic sculptor Wi Taepa, leather ties unique ceramic sculpture depicting a cloak typically worn by Maori Wi Te Tau Pirika Taepa (born 1946,...
Ceramic, Leather
Portrait of Maya #10
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Mickalene Thomas (b.1971) is an American artist exploring the intersection of popular culture and art history, through a contemporary Black female gaze. As an openly gay Black woman,...
Varnish, Archival Pigment, Screen
Sold
H 23.35 in W 20.67 in
Portrait of Maya #10, Contemporary Screen Print with Glitter, 2010+
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Zug, CH
The unapologetic Portrait of Maya #10 (2024), originally conceived as a monumental 8-foot-tall artwork as part of the Broad Collection 2017, is a bold celebration of love and sexuali...
Varnish, Glitter, Digital Pigment, Screen
Sold
H 35.02 in W 31.03 in
Maya & Interior by Mickalene Thomas, 2024, limited edition
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Zug, CH
Mickalene Thomas Maya & Interior 2024 UV pigment print on 410gsm Somerset Tub Sized Radiant White paper with 4 metallic silkscreen glitter and shimmer layers, a CMYK silkscreen centr...
Silk, Color, Pigment
Clarivel with Black Blouse and White Ribbon
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Hand signed, dated and numbered out of 25 by Thomas in pencil on the reverse of the print. The edition is based on a collage of the same name that was featured in the artist's acclai...
Giclée
When Ends Meet
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Mickalene Thomas (b.1971) is an American artist exploring the intersection of popular culture and art history, through a contemporary Black female gaze. As an openly gay Black woman, sexuality and race are essential themes in Thomas' practice. Thomas frequently creates elaborate and intricate portraits of black women...
Mixed Media, Screen
Michelle O
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Mickalene Thomas (b.1971) is an American artist exploring the intersection of popular culture and art history, through a contemporary Black female gaze. As an openly gay Black woman, sexuality and race are essential themes in Thomas' practice. This print is outside the edition of 40 inscribed ‘project proof’ and numbered 4/4. Looks authentic. Published by Brand X Projects. Thomas frequently creates portraits of black women...
Screen
Why Can't We Just Sit Down and Talk It Over?
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Mickalene Thomas (b.1971) is a renowned artist exploring the intersection of popular culture and art history, through a contemporary Black female gaze. She studied at the Pratt Institute, and earned her MFA from Yale. As an openly gay Black woman, sexuality and race are essential elements of Thomas' practice. Thomas primary focus is portraits of black women. Her works are instantly recognizable featuring bold textures, patterns and colors. Thomas' subjects radiate beauty and confidence, further enhanced by the abundance of colorful textures and patterns surrounding them. Their hair is typically natural, and their bodies are often exposed or informal. They lounge, or pose, as women in art history have done for centuries. Only this time, it's Black women being celebrated for their culture and beauty. Visual references to Blaxploitation, Pop Art, Cubism, Dadaism, and even Renaissance art appear in her work. Her subjects, or muses, emanate an air of ease in their skin. Their gaze is usually directed towards the viewer, challenging the white male gaze and defying racial stereotypes of subservience and objectification. This colorful and multi-faceted work "Why Can't We Just Sit Down and Talk It Over?" is a stunning example of Thomas' practice. Created in her signature mixed-media collage style, this screenprint features a poised and beautiful Black woman...
Screen
Portrait of a Lovely Six Foota #1
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Mickalene Thomas (b.1971) is an American artist exploring the intersection of popular culture and art history, through a contemporary Black female gaze. As an openly gay Black woman, sexuality and race are essential themes in Thomas' practice. "Portrait of a Lovely...
Giclée
Clarivel with Black Blouse and White Ribbon
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Mickalene Thomas (b.1971) is an American artist exploring the intersection of popular culture and art history, through a contemporary Black female gaze. As an openly gay Black woman, sexuality and race are essential themes in Thomas' practice. Thomas' frequently creates portraits of black women...
Inkjet
The High Priestess
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Saint Louis, MO
The High Priestess, 2010 Archival inkjet print Framed Dimensions: 20.19 x 16.25 x 1 inches (51.27 x 41.27 x 2.54 cm) Edition of 7, 2/3 AP
Archival Ink, Inkjet
Portrait of Marie Sitting in Black and White
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Toronto, Ontario
This work, a black and white photo, is somewhat of an anomaly in Thomas' oeuvre. However "Marie" is surrounded by Thomas' signature background of fabrics in varying textures and patt...
Photogravure
I Have Been Good To Me
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Toronto, Ontario
I Have Been Good to Me, 2015 Screenprint, monoprint, silica flocking, wood veneer and digital printing in colors, on museum board, with full margins. I. 51 1/2 x 40 1/4 in. (130.8 x 102.2 cm) S. 56 1/2 x 45 in. (143.5 x 114.3 cm) Signed, dated and numbered out of 20 in pencil, published by Benefit Print Project, New York, unframed. This colorful and multi-faceted work is a stunning example of Thomas' practice. Created in Thomas' signature mixed-media collage style, this work features a poised and beautiful African-American woman serenely surrounded by various textures, colors, and objects. The subject is coiffed, confident, and glamorous in a flared open dress showcasing her gleaming legs and sexy high-heels. The interior elements seem to hint at domesticated nature: leopard print pillows, crocodile upholstered chairs, a white cat statue...
Digital, Monoprint, Screen