Critical Archive of the Visual and Related Arts
Bob Thompson
American; 20th-century
Provincetown, MA: Provincetown Art Association and Museum (Exhibition: Go Figure: Selections from the Permanent Collection)
78%
Untitled (Two Brides). 1960. Oil on panel
If only due to its size this is a minor painting by Thompson, but nevertheless it's very good on its own humble terms, and it's also somewhat strange within the artist's oeuvre. Strange because it's so congested and because its tone is so dull, inarticulate — Thompson is known for louder colors and breathier compositions than this. But the congestion facilitates some excellent stuff, like that arc of orange-to-white between the heads of the brides, which looks like it's about to get squeezed out of its spot in the background and burst right off the front of the panel. The reserved palette, too, allows for revelations like that bit of magenta in the top right corner or that stain of orange near the bottom of the right figure's cloak; it also lets the raggedy brushwork (notably in the brides' faces) speak for itself. It's to Thompson's credit that he accomplished so much with so little in this picture, but it's also something of an indictment that his larger paintings can fail to seem so tight and controlled. (TFS, 2025)