Bob Thompson

American, 1937-1966

Emerging in the 1950s and ’60s, Bob Thompson developed a vibrant figurative style that reinterpreted classical European paintings through a modern, personal lens. An African American artist working in a period dominated by abstraction, Thompson brought historical subjects into contemporary focus—flattening forms, heightening color, and stripping away traditional perspective. 

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he became part of New York’s downtown creative scene, building friendships with jazz musicians Charlie Haden and Ornette Coleman, whose improvisational approach echoed his own. His paintings often combined mythological and religious imagery with bold, expressive forms. 

Though his life was cut short at age 28, Thompson produced more than 1,000 works. He exhibited in major galleries during his lifetime, and his legacy has grown in recent decades as institutions revisit his contribution to postwar American art and the broader reimagining of Western visual traditions.