On View

I Am Myself: Bob Thompson and Friends’ Early Works

August 8 - Sept 12
Opening Reception:
FRiday August 8, 6-9pm

A Black artist working in a white art world during the Jim Crow era of the late 1950s and early 1960s, Bob Thompson stood out. Though often cast as an outsider, Thompson was very much part of a larger circle of figurative expressionist painters working in Provincetown and New York City. He worked, played, and exhibited alongside artists like Emilio Cruz, Mary Frank, Jay Milder, Mimi Gross, Red Grooms, and Bill Barrell—young painters who, like Thompson, were experimenting with imagery and technique in search of their own visual language.

Older artists—Milton Avery, Gandy Brodie, Nanno de Groot, Lester Johnson, Robert Beauchamp—and the beloved paintings of Jan Müller provided inspiration and affirmation, guiding the younger generation’s creative paths. Within this community, Thompson’s singular presence was unmistakable—shaped by his charisma, wit, emotional depth, and extraordinary natural talent. His work, driven by an almost supernatural energy, reflected not just his individuality, but the dynamic spirit of a moment and movement he helped define.

About the Artist

Bob thompson: 1937-1966 - Though his painting career lasted less than a decade, Bob Thompson created a body of work that remains both monumental and unmistakable. Between 1959 and his untimely death in 1966, Thompson produced over 1,000 works—vibrant, emotionally charged canvases that reimagined the language of Old Master painting through a distinctly modern lens. Drawing from Renaissance and Baroque compositions, he stripped away realism in favor of saturated color, improvisational brushwork, and symbolic intensity.

Thompson’s legacy has been honored in major exhibitions, including a retrospective at the Whitney Museum in 1998 and Bob Thompson: This House is Mine, which toured leading institutions from 2021–2023. Today, his paintings are held in collections across the country and continue to inspire generations of artists working at the intersection of history, identity, and experimentation.

The Hammock Gallery is thrilled to honor his legacy and celebrate the cultural movement that inspired his paintings with this presentation of I Am Myself: Bob Thompson and Friends’ Early Works, a show that both reflects and reinvigorates the spirit of artistic exploration Thompson embodied.

Accompanying Artists

Bill Barrell

Gandy Brodie

Emilio Cruz

Mimi Gross

Lester Johnson

Jan Muller