Saturday, May 10, 2014

Robert Thom

I bought a wonderful oil painting at an antique store six blocks from our house.  It's signed "Thom" in the lower right hand corner and has an inked stamp on the back "Robert Thom and Sons, Birmingham, Michigan".  According to the internet Robert Thom and Sons was dissolved in 1966 after being in business for 48 years.  Robert Thom appears to have painted in a realistic, illustrated style compared to Norman Rockwell.  He was commissioned to paint an illustrated history of medicine by Park-Davis Pharmaceuticals.  He exhibited at the Vancouver Art Gallery and Smithsonian Institution and has artwork in the collection of the White House and the Baseball Hall of Fame.  One person on the internet mentions owning a painting by Robert Thom that is in the style of kinetic op art.  It is 20" x 40", oil on canvas and has a nice original fame.  Robert Thom lived from 1915 -1979 and a son was born in 1955.