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Beach of Silenus

A work made of acrylic on cream wove paper with commercially printed text.

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  • A work made of acrylic on cream wove paper with commercially printed text.

Date:

1964

Artist:

Robert Thompson
American, 1937-1966

About this artwork

Robert Thompson appropriated compositions from Old European Masters, rearranging and integrating them with his own symbolic language and figural style. In his reconfiguration of established themes, he eliminated narrative content and instead created abstract patterns that loosely convey a feeling or an idea. The thick acrylic paint produces a dynamic, textured surface; flat, overlapping fields of color create linear and chromatic rhythms and planes advance and recede in space. Despite deriving inspiration from canonical works of art, Thompson’s improvisatoinsal working method demonstrates affinities with the post-bebop jazz of the 1960s.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Bob Thompson

Title

Beach of Silenus

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1964

Medium

Acrylic on cream wove paper with commercially printed text

Dimensions

26.1 × 27.6 cm (10 5/16 × 10 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Lannan Foundation

Reference Number

1997.124

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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