Born in 1937 in Louisville, Kentucky, African-American artist Bob Thompson developed a unique style of painting that used his knowledge of renaissance themes to create abstract scenes of metaphorical significance. After the death of Thompson’s father in 1950, Thompson became depressed and his mother sent him to live in Boston, Massachusetts with his older sister and her husband. Thompson’s father-in-law suggested painting as an outlet for grief. This technique proved successful as Thompson returned to Louisville, in 1956, to enter as an art student at the University of Louisville. There, he became involved in an intellectual art circle that held regular meetings and discussions. Thompson’s art teacher suggested spending a summer in Provincetown, Massachusetts at the Seong Moy Art School under the direction of innovative abstract painter, Hans Hofmann. Thompson enjoyed his time in Provincetown by becoming friends with expressionist Jan Müller and finding an interest in figural painting. He developed a curiosity for Italian Renaissance painting and revered Old Masters such as Piero della Francesca, Masaccio and Poussin. During the fall of 1958, Thompson moved to New York City to start his career.

In New York, Thompson established a figurative style in reaction to the dominance of abstract art with his own twist on expressive uses of color. He depicted contemporary reinterpretations of biblical themes. The tension between good and evil that create both stability and turmoil in the relationships of nature, man and animals inspired Thompson’s biblical creations. He believed nude female figures express nature’s sensuality, while birds represent power and freedom. For example, in Bird Ritual (1963, Private Collection of Jacqueline Bradley and Clarence Otis), Thompson depicts a Madonna, clothed and in shock while mythical sirens dance in the nude, embracing nature. Birds fly next to the sirens to emphasize the ritual dancing.

Thompson joined the City Gallery and held his first one-man show at Delancey Street Museum and later a two-man exhibition with Jay Milder at the Zabriskie Gallery. Despite Thompson’s flourishing career, he became a chronic drug and alcohol user. In 1960, He married Carol Penda, whom he met in Provincetown. The two moved to Galciere, France, with the help of a Walter Gutman Foundation grant, to get away from the loud city and help Thompson with his addiction.

In 1962, Thompson received the John Hay Whitney grant to continue with his work. In 1963, he and his wife moved to Ibiza, Spain and returned to New York later that year with a large body of new paintings, Study for Ascension to the Heavens (1963) being one of them.

The Martha Jackson Gallery displayed Thompson’s new pieces, which assured his recognition in the art world. His paintings began appearing in exhibitions around the country and critics venerated the genius of the new, young, African-American master of renaissance themes with a modern focus. Thompson’s artworks often depicted themes of sin, salvation, love and violence. The paintings were large, figurative, bright, and raw with birds and winged creatures appearing as omnipresent symbols, The Spinning, Spinning, Turning, Directing (1963, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.) being a prime example. Figures are unnaturally colored and fantastical creatures run, sit and fly around a two-dimensional space.

Thompson’s paintings wrestled with issues of race and bias, some of these paintings include Black Monster (1961, Anderson Gallery, Buffalo, New York) and Bacchanal (1960, Private Collection of John Sacchi). Many figures depicted possess rainbow skin tones either to ignore the label of race or to express a specific feeling or trait. In some works, Thompson’s images are so abstract it is difficult to see or understand the story being told. However, it is clear that color did most of the telling in Thompson’s work.

In 1966, Thompson’s career came to an abrupt end when he died of a drug overdose in Rome. At twenty-eight years old, Thompson achieved almost unparalleled success for an African-American artist. Thompson produced over one-thousand paintings in his lifetime. It would not be until the 1980s with the emergence of Jean-Michel Basquiat, when another African-American artist would become so accepted by the American public, proving Bob Thompson to be a revolutionary and an unforgettable painter.

Citation:

Perry, Regenia A., and Lynda Roscoe Hartigan. “Search Collections.” Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art, n.d. Web. 28 June 2017.