This dissertation examines the early paintings of Faith Ringgold from 1956 to 1973, within the framework of the black cultural and political nationalism of the 1960s and the Feminist Movement of the 1970s. In particular the two thangka landscape series (unstretched paintings bordered in fabric), entitled The Feminist Series (1972) and The Slave Rape Series (1972-73) are examined. These two groups of paintings are critical to the artists later works due to their unconventional format. They form a link between Ringgold's first mature works of 1963-67 and the painted "story quilts" begun in 1980, for which the artist is presently renowned. The thangka paintings are unique in that they represent a carefully constructed marriage between the Western tradition of painting on canvas and two distinct Non-western traditions: that of the Tibetan thangka (religious paintings on fabric) and that of African textile design.

The research begins with an examination of Ringgold's landscape paintings of the late 1950s which are gestural in brushwork, incorporate Impressionist lighting, and foreshadow the artist's interest in abstraction. This phase quickly evolves into her first mature painting series, The American People (1963-1967), which addresses issues of race relations between blacks and whites in America during the period in which the series was painted. Discussions of subsequent paintings, which militantly and often graphically address issues of sexism and racism, follow. These figurative works include The Black Light Series, The Political Posters, and For the Women's House, and were painted from 1967 to 1971. The 1972 group of watercolor paintings, Political Landscapes are discussed as they relate to the thangkas in terms of the integration of text and image. Finally three chapters are devoted to the thangka-style works, discussing the artist's material process, the nature of the tests included in the paintings, the use of the nude black female image, and the socio-political environment in which these works were created.