Thomas Tibor K.

Tibor K. Thomas (1919-2010)

The death of his father when Tibor was seven left his mother alone with four small children. Tibor was soon obliged to earn his own living and at around the age of eleven began to work, while continuing to attend the School of Arts and Crafts. After the start of the war, Tibor was sent to a labour camp where he became an active member of the anti Nazi resistance. He continued to draw portraits of his comrades and even of the Romanian soldiers and officers. After the war Thomas enrolled in the Bucharest Fine Arts Institute where he taught from 1950 to 1969. During this period, he was a regular participant in official exhibitions at home and abroad, in the Soviet Union, the East block countries and China and he received many distinctions and commissions. In 1969, together with his wife Judith, an art critic, and son Peter, an art student, they escaped the totalitarian regime of Romania and after a stay in Rome they established themselves in Montreal in 1970. In Canada his painting underwent fundamental changes. His palette became richer and more brilliant and the subjects more personal – landscapes, marinas, still lifes and portraits. The chromatic scale alternates between patches of warm and cold colours, giving the canvasses an arresting dynamism and spontaneity.

Tibor continued to paint, travel and exhibit until his death in 2010.

Tibor K. Thomas participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions and his works are part of private and public collections around the world.