Fortune of the Spirit

A career-spanning examination of the work of Robert Bergman and its place within the history of American art

This unprecedented retrospective offers a detailed analysis of Robert Bergman's psychologically penetrating art across the breadth of his career. Shaped by the vocabulary of painting as much as photography, Bergman's often wrenching, beautifully evocative photographs tumble headlong into the emotional, physical, and mental struggles of living, challenging us to look deeply within ourselves and to reconsider how we relate to strangers. Long heralded by luminaries across different disciplines—including the author Toni Morrison, art historian Meyer Schapiro, and social activist Peter Gabel—Bergman's images offer a counterpoint to contemporary society's preoccupations with identity, division, and complaint.

Introducing the underground legend to a new generation, this volume presents the first full survey of Bergman's work from the mid-1960s to the present, including many previously unpublished images, and essays from art historians, artists, and academics that contextualise the circumstances of Bergman's life and work and examine how his pictorial representations resonate with the human experience.

Distributed for the Amon Carter Museum of American Art

Exhibition Schedule:

Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX
(May 18–August 3, 2025)