The Judgement
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
The career of Bob Thompson, the noted African American artist, was cut short by his early death at the age of twenty-eight. Thompson was born near Louisville, Kentucky, and studied at the University of Louisville and at Boston University. In the early and mid-1960s, he traveled throughout Europe and experienced many Renaissance paintings and other artworks firsthand. He fused the vigor and vibrancy of Expressionism with themes from Old Master compositions and the vivid palette of Fauve painting to create the original visual vocabulary exemplified by The Judgment. Recalling such time-honored Old Master subjects as the Last Judgment and the Judgment of Paris, here a nude male trio sits before faceless winged female angels while two figures (at left) await judgment. The planar, flattened figures and compositional contours in a gesturally applied background are all equally emphasized.
Caption
Bob Thompson American, 1937–1966. The Judgement, 1963. Oil on canvas, 60 x 84in. (152.4 x 213.4cm) frame: 60 3/4 x 84 5/8 x 2 in. (154.3 x 214.9 x 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, A. Augustus Healy Fund, 81.214. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 81.214_PS20.jpg)
Tags
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
The Judgement
Date
1963
Medium
Oil on canvas
Classification
Dimensions
60 x 84in. (152.4 x 213.4cm) frame: 60 3/4 x 84 5/8 x 2 in. (154.3 x 214.9 x 5.1 cm)
Signatures
Lower left: "B Thompson '63"
Credit Line
A. Augustus Healy Fund
Accession Number
81.214
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
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Frequent Art Questions
This painting reminds me of works by Gauguin, do you know if this artist was inspired him?
You may have read this on the label, but Bob Thompson was a noted African American artist who studied at the University of Louisville and at Boston University. In the early and mid-1960s, he traveled throughout Europe and experienced many Renaissance paintings and other artworks firsthand.Thompson was definitely aware of Gauguin. He borrowed freely from Gauguin, Goya, and others.(He often based his compositions on those of his predecessors.)
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