Influenced by jazz, painter Bob Thompson charted new directions in figurative painting in the 1950s, when abstraction was the dominant trend in American art. Interested in the interplay of good and evil and the relationship between people and nature, Thompson painted silhouettes of humans and animals in vibrant colors, set against ethereal landscapes and expressive spaces. In his works, dynamic curves meet sharp lines that link figures in the frame. Often reinterpreting classical and religious imagery from a contemporary perspective, Thompson’s practice reflected his experience as a Black American living in the United States and Europe. He occasionally inserted legendary performers he admired such as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and Nina Simone into reconfigured compositions of European paintings by artists such as Francisco de Goya and Piero della Francesca.

–From the Glenstone Field Guide