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Impressionism
A Brief History
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Richard
Earl Thompson-Biography"Nature's
Preservationist in Paint"TM
Richard
Earl Thompson (1914-1991). 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.
Bellingrath Gardens - Private Collection
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 War Bond 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 ambition to 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. Frosty Morn - Collection R.W. Norton Art Gallery
- Museum Shreveport LA |