Bob Thompson: Heroes, Martyrs, & Spectres explores the visionary and expressionist works of Bob Thompson. The exhibition features several of Thompson’s major paintings including Bird Party, The Tree, The Struggle, and Satyr and Maiden, as well as a selection of drawings.

For Bob Thompson, painting was a catharsis. He passionately poured his soul into often autobiographical and allegorical expressions which weave figures and landscapes into a tapestry of color. On the surface, Thompson’s expressionist paintings appear irreverent, but they are deeply rooted in tradition. Thompson actively appropriated from masters including Goya, Poussin, and Piero della Francesca, adopting their compositions and classical subjects as the basis for his works. By combining his own visionary style of self-expression with tradition, Thompson succeeded in producing distinctive works which stand very much alone in twentieth-century art.