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Richard Thompson - BIOGRAPHY
American Impressionist Artist
Richard Earl Thompson (1914 - 1991)
"Nature's Preservationist in Paint"™
Richard Earl Thompson's legacy to the world is the gift of enduring beauty - nature
captured on canvas in all its myriad moods. An American Impressionist of renown, he
has been compared to Monet, but preferred to think of himself as "AN EXTENSION"
to the impressionists "A CONTINUING LINK." Profoundly influenced by the
Master of the French Impressionist School, he also embraced ideas from Spanish, Italian
and American painters. Creating his own unique style by incorporating a broader 20th
Century color palette, which included earth tones, and combining painting techniques,
Thompson's canvases convey a powerful and harmonious combination of diversified subject
matter, exquisite brush work, skillful draftsmanship and luminosity. He summed up
his painting simply, "I hope I have sincerity. I have tried to interpret
things as I feel inside. I have tried not to be something I am not. No shock
treatments, no political messages, compositions based rather on tranquil scenes - a
sincere approach to painting to which all people can relate. When drawing, the
proportion is pretty well established, and I like to devote time to the color of things as
the sun creates them. Color, then is unlimited; it is ever-changing. I see
myself not as an extension of the camera, but of the emotions these colors can
evoke." He remarked that today we have colors at our fingertips that the early
impressionists lacked so we can arrive at even greater variations of light and
color. Through the years he perfected the use of color to such an extent that his
painting vary from subtle mood scenes and pleasant tranquil setting to high brilliance.
A child prodigy at the Chicago Academy of Fine Art at the age of 15, he was taken under
the wing of Frederick Grant, who was a student of William Merritt Chase, one of America's
great painters. From there he continued at the American Academy of Art and then on
to the Chicago Art Institute to study under Louis Ritman. He felt strongly that the
fundamental training of drawing, color and composition instilled in those early days
provided him the sound basis from which to develop his mature technique.
Both musically and artistically gifted, at the age of 18 he made the decision to pursue a
career in art rather than opera. He felt that he had to paint in order to live
fully. Thompson often compared art to music, feeling that they were akin, only
communication in a different form. He has stated, "The world is looking for
this communication. A painting that doesn't have to be explained, but simply
portrays a beautiful feeling to which people can relate, is communication.""
The combination of the Depression with the insurgence of the Modern Art Era, and the
necessity of supporting a family, let Thompson to choose an early career in commercial
art. Many will look back with a tinge of nostalgia recalling the back covers of the
"Saturday Evening Post," some of which Thompson was responsible for while
working with Haddon Sundbloom who created many of the famous Coca-Cola ads. Also
among his commercial art credits are the famous World War II Warbond Posters which he was
commissioned to paint by the U.S. Government.
Distinguished and highly successful as his commercial art career was he never gave up his
ambitionto have the "fine art" career for which he had been trained. In
1959 with commercial illustration being replaced slowly by photography, he turned to fine
art as a full time career. He credited his commercial art background with aiding him
in his ability to do figures so well and to combine landscapes and figurative works so
dramatically. Sensitive to nuance, Thompson lived a very special life among nature
in the woods of Wisconsin and on the shores of the Florida Key with his supportive and
lovely wife, Mary Munn during his highly productive years of fine art. He said
"I have thoroughly enjoyed my years of adventure in painting; they have provided me
with a way to live. What is most important to me now is doing the thing I've always
wanted to do, surrounded by nature and those who are closest to me. What more can
any man ask?"Collectors and admirers of Richard Earl Thompson's personal expressions
of nature, which he held so dear would agree: his "small moments of time"
captured forever on canvas touch us, please the spirit and fill the soul with joy.
Photo Page
featuring photos of Richard Thompson
Short History of Impressionism
Art
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Museum
Exhibits
Richard Earl Thompson (1914-1991)
Original Paintings
"Seasons of Light"
April 9 - June 12, 2005
at the Leigh Yawkey
Woodson Art Museum,
Wausau, WI
Sept 13 - Nov 6, 2005
at the
R.W.Norton Art Gallery
Museum in
Shreveport, LA
Dec 10 2005 - Jan 21, 2006
at the
St John's-Uihlein Peters Gallery
Milwaukee, WI
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