Samuel Thal was born in New York City in 1903. The son of Russian immigrants, Thal grew up on a farm in Hadlyme, Connecticut. Upon returning to New York City, Thal began his art studies at the National Academy of Design. He took sculpture classes at the Beaux Arts Academy and studied painting, drawing, and printmaking at the Art Students League.

Sam Thal became an accomplished painter, illustrator, printmaker, sculptor, and art teacher. Thal spent most of of his life in Boston where he studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and spent many years producing architectural sculpture with George K. Loeser at Harvard University.

Thal is primarily known for his drypoint etchings and by the 1930s, Thal was working as a full-time artist. While painting, sculpting, and etching, he also assisted in the establishment of the art education programs under the Federal Art Project. Thal also taught life drawing classes at Garland Junior College in Boston, the Boston Architectural Club and the Boston Museum of Modern Art.

Thal’s drypoint etchings are held in collections including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Metropolitan Museum, Library of Congress, Carnegie Institute of Art, Bibliotheque Nationale (Paris), Penn State University, Boston Public Library and Harvard Medical School. In 1942, he was awarded the coveted Talcott Prize by the Society of American Etchers; he was also the recipient of several purchase prizes from the Library of Congress. Thal’s one-man exhibition credits include Doll & Richards Gallery (1942, 1945 and 1957), Grace Horne Gallery (Boston, 1944) and the U.S. National Museum (part of the Smithsonian) in 1947.