Steffen Thomas

Steffen Wolfgang George Thomas (January 7, 1906 – January 27, 1990) was an artist and poet.

He was born in Fürth, Germany, but lived most of his adult life in Atlanta, Georgia.

His most notable pieces are public monuments; however, he also worked in other media (including, but not limited to painting, sculpture, mosaic, printmaking, encaustic, and watercolor).

His art is greatly influenced by Expressionism.

Thomas was born in 1906 in Fürth, Germany.

He expressed a strong passion for art from an early age.

After Thomas's father witnessed his son carving angel faces in the marble foundation of their home, he later apprenticed Thomas to a stone carver, providing Thomas a useful skill, but also a creative outlet to cultivate his artistic talents.

Following his apprenticeship, Thomas was accepted to the School of Applied Arts, Nuremberg, and then to the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich.

His focus was drawing and sculpture based on the classical model.

Thomas achieved “Master” status at age twenty-one and was given his own studio.

Thomas quickly tired of his artistic life in Germany and longed for greater endeavors.

In 1928, Thomas realized his dream of moving to America.

He spent brief periods in Florida, Illinois, and Alabama, but eventually settled in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1930.

In 1931 Thomas created a bust of journalist Henry W. Grady which became the central display of the Georgia Newspaper Hall of Fame.

A few houses down from Thomas lived a school teacher named Sara Douglass.

Thomas was introduced to Douglass through her mother over a conversation about gardening, and after a two-month courtship they were married (1933) at Fulton County Courthouse.

While his family remained in Germany, Thomas found his artistic life belonged in his adoptive country and he became an American citizen in 1935.

In 1941, Sara and Steffen purchased fifty acres near Stone Mountain, Georgia, and subsequently built a home and artist studio.

The couple raised four children, Steffen, Robin, Douglass, and Lisa.

Thomas continually worked on the complex by hand, and it became a popular destination, visited by friends, family, and tourists.

Thomas supported his family through public commissions and portraiture.

Among the most notable monuments are the Alabama Memorial (1951) installed at the Vicksburg National Military Park, the statue of Eugene Talmadge, Georgia State Capitol Collection, and the Trilon (c.1950) located on the corner of Peachtree and 15th Street in Atlanta.

Thomas also created numerous busts commemorating prominent Georgians: Chief Justice Richard Russell Jr., Georgia State College for Women (currently Georgia College and State University), Milledgeville, GA; Martha Berry, Berry Schools (currently Berry College), Berry, GA; Joel Chandler Harris, Atlanta Public Schools; Moina Michael, “The Poppy Lady”, Georgia State Capitol, Atlanta, GA; portrait head of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Little White House, Warm Springs, GA; and George Washington Carver, Tuskegee Institute (currently Tuskegee University), Tuskegee, AL.

Thomas found acclaimed success with public works; however, with the refusal of his proposal for the Stone Mountain Civil War Memorial (a twenty-year plan in the making), he became disenchanted with seeking public commissions, and naturally turned his focus toward creating works to express his personal artistic ideals.

Essentially, he was free to create art without the restraints often associated with commissioned projects.

From his days at the academy, Thomas did not take criticism well.

He lost a Palm Beach commission when he substituted his own imagery in place of the Gothic specifications of the patron.

He was notoriously hypersensitive to gallery owners, collectors, and patrons that did not appreciate his art.

Thomas had a distinct artistic vision that was difficult to change once he set his mind to creating.

Art Historian Anthony Janson comments on Thomas's attitude toward his art, “What better way to shield one’s work (and oneself) from criticism that to avoid the confrontation altogether by keeping all but true believers from seeing it?”

In 1970, Thomas returned to a midtown Atlanta studio, selling his Stone Mountain estate.

He continued his work until his death with the same passion and intensity from his student days.

Thomas was formally trained in sculpture, drawing, and the classical arts at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich.

While in Germany, his art wholly reflected the classical tradition; however, by the time he settled in Atlanta, his aesthetic made a change toward the abstract.

From his student days he was largely influenced by other artistic movements, but especially by Expressionism and post-Cubism.

He also experimented with materials and worked with every available medium, a technique he continued throughout his career.

Creativity was first and foremost the driving factor for Thomas.

Thomas admitted that as a young man he did not understand the importance of the Expressionists’ vision, but later in life he fully recognized the influence of the movement on his own work.

Thomas came to the United States in search of the Romantic ideal of prosperity and freedom.

Thomas briefly returned to Germany after his move to America, but did not visit again until 1972.