{"data":{"id":"1327","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":1327,"topgoose_id":419,"tms_id":1327,"display_name":"Bob Thompson","sort_name":"Thompson Bob","display_date":"1937–1966","begin_date":"1937","end_date":"1966","biography":"\u003cp\u003eBob Thompson’s painting career was\nbrief but prolific. He began showing his work\nin 1959 and over the next seven years\ncompleted several hundred canvases. During\nthis time he developed a style that combined\nthe imagery of Old Master painting with\nan explosive chromatic palette. In \u003ca href=\"/collection/works/11712\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eTriumph of\nBacchus\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Thompson borrowed compositional\nelements from Renaissance depictions\nof this mythological subject, exchanging the\ndescriptive clarity of the originals for\na vividly hued arrangement by alternating\npassages of flatly applied and loosely\nbrushed color. In modernizing these historical\nsources, Thompson participated in the\njazz idiom practiced by his contemporaries,\nwho based their improvisations on a\nthorough understanding of preexisting styles.\nSaxophonist Steve Lacy, a friend of\nThompson’s, referred to the artist as “jazz\nhimself,” explaining that “the way he painted\nwas like jazz—taking liberties with colors.”\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThompson also updated the symbolism\nin his mythological paintings, often using\navian imagery to represent various\nstates of the soul. Here a massive winged\ncreature replaces Bacchus’s triumphal\nchariot, and the processioners hold\nbirds in their hands. In the ancient story,\nAriadne falls in love with Bacchus only after\nthe duplicitous Theseus abandons her.\nIn this work the birds can be interpreted as\nembracing Bacchus and the joy of the\npresent while, by tethering birds from flight,\nAriadne remains anchored to Theseus\nand her past. Thompson admired how\nRenaissance artists could “relate” to and\n“educate the public.” His canvases perform\na similar function by merging reverence\nfor these painters with a desire to depict\nhis experience of modern life.\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":false,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500080773","wikidata_id":"Q4934184","created_at":"2017-08-30T15:39:50.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-04-09T07:03:59.421-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/1327/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/1327/exhibitions"}}}}