J. B. Thompson Art

American, 1932-1984

J.B. Thompson (1932 – 1984) began his career as an aspriring student of architecture. However, this endeavor soon gave way to a study of painting and sculpture. His mastery of the aforementioned three subjects was readily apparent in his early art. Later in life, he expanded into printmaking, which he synthesized with sculpture, creating sterling silver and copper collage prints, available only in limited edition and released in 1972. Throughout the 1970s, he continued to add various techniques and materials to his prints, including collograph, woodcut, lithograph, etching, carborundum surfaces and gold. The dramatic textural relief observable in his prints is a result of Thompson’s masterful manipulation of the carborundum process.

In terms of subject matter for the prints, he often used images which evoke the notion of a mental or physical voyage, generally with an overwhelming sense of movement. Others are based on metaphysical diagrams intended to represent various levels of the human psychic journey and the Earth’s physical cosmos. Thompson believed wholeheartedly in the one-to-one communication process that occured between viewer and artist and felt his audience would know a great deal about him if they grasped the meaning of his work.

Of his work it has been said that ‘the source of J.B. Thompson’s imagery was a direct, mystical experience of reality, which he did not try to define or control. He did not separate the creation of his art from the living of his life.’ Thompson rather successfully combined technical expertise with creative intuition. He died of cancer in 1984.

Artist: J. B. Thompson

J. B. ThompsonJ.B. Thompson "Photon" Mixed Media Etching w/ Copper and Aquatint c.1970s, Circa 1970

$1,250

J.B. Thompson "Photon" Mixed Media Etching w/ Copper and Aquatint c.1970s

By J. B. Thompson

Located in San Francisco, CA

J.B. Thompson "Photon" Mixed Media Etching w/ Copper and Aquatint Limited Edition J.B. Thompson (American, 1932-1984) Fantastic pencil signed and numbered mixed media etching with ...

Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract J. B. Thompson Art

Materials

Copper

David HockneyThe Rake's Progress - new ceramic plate in bespoke box designed by Hockney in UK, 2020

$1,500

H 8 in W 8 in

The Rake's Progress - new ceramic plate in bespoke box designed by Hockney in UK

By David Hockney

Located in New York, NY

Created as a one-off limited edition; exact number unknown, but scarce collectible: David Hockney The Rake's Progress, 2019-2020 Fine Bone China finished with platinum gilding in ele...

Category

2010s Abstract J. B. Thompson Art

Materials

Platinum

Sam GilliamSam Gilliam, Buoy Landscape IV Mixed media signed/n Abstract Expressionist print, 1982

$8,125Sale Price|35% Off

H 31.5 in W 24 in

Sam Gilliam, Buoy Landscape IV Mixed media signed/n Abstract Expressionist print

By Sam Gilliam

Located in New York, NY

Sam Gilliam Buoy Landscape IV, 1982 Color relief print, etching, screenprint, drypoint, aquatint and roulette all from deeply etched copper plates, on handmade wove paper 31 1/2 × 24 inches Hand signed and numbered 3/25 in graphite pencil Hand-signed by artist, Signed by artist, numbered, and dated in pencil and blind-stamped by printer-publisher on lower right, titled in pencil on lower left, recto Unframed with elegant deckled edges Rare vintage intaglio and relief, all from deeply etched copper plates. Other works from this series are in the permanent collections of major museums & institutions like the Smithsonian, so they are quite scarce on the open market. Steven M. Andersen (Printer) Philip Barber (Printer) Hang Nguyen (Printer) Stephanie Nowack (Printer) Michael Reid (Printer) Daniel Rounds (Printer) Vermillion Editions Limited (Publisher) Sam Gilliam Biography: Sam Gilliam was one of the great innovators in postwar American painting. He emerged from the Washington, D.C. scene in the mid 1960s with works that elaborated upon and disrupted the ethos of Color School painting. A series of formal breakthroughs would soon result in his canonical Drape paintings, which expanded upon the tenets of Abstract Expressionism in entirely new ways. Suspending stretcherless lengths of painted canvas from the walls or ceilings of exhibition spaces, Gilliam transformed his medium and the contexts in which it was viewed. As an artist in the nation’s capital at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, this was not merely an aesthetic proposition; it was a way of defining art’s role in a society undergoing dramatic change. Gilliam pursued a pioneering course in which experimentation was the only constant. Inspired by the improvisatory ethos of jazz, his lyrical abstractions took on an increasing variety of forms, moods, and materials. In addition to a traveling retrospective organized by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. in 2005, Sam Gilliam was the subject of solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (1971); The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York (1982); Whitney Museum of American Art, Philip Morris Branch, New York (1993); J.B. Speed Memorial Museum, Louisville, Kentucky (1996); Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. (2011); and Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland (2018), among many other institutions. A semi-permanent installation of Gilliam’s paintings opened at Dia:Beacon in August 2019. His work is included in over fifty public collections, including those of the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Tate Modern, London; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and the Art Institute of Chicago. Sam Gilliam, Green April, 1969, acrylic on canvas, 98 x 271 x 3 7/8 inches (248.9 x 688.3 x 9.8 cm), Collection of Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland, Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, photography by Lee Thompson...

Category

1980s Abstract Expressionist J. B. Thompson Art

Plastic, Wood, Mixed Media, Screen

J. B. Thompson art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic J. B. Thompson art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by J. B. Thompson in copper, metal, mixed media and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large J. B. Thompson art, so small editions measuring 39 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Ray Elman, Dara Mark, and Leonard Edmondson. J. B. Thompson art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,250 and tops out at $1,250, while the average work can sell for $1,250.