1923 MAINE PAINTING Paris Hill JAMES L THOMPSON Portland ME Art MUSEUM ARTIST !!

17 x 12 1/4 inches watercolor painting by American Impressionist artist James Lawton Thompson depicting his studio in Paris Hill, Maine. This is a rare summertime painting because the sundial actually tells us what time it is! Thompson was an accomplished artist who studied at Harvard University, the Academie Colarossi in Paris (Paul Gauguin also studied there), Boston School of Art in Massachusetts, and the Art Students League in New York City. Discoloration at edge areas could be covered with (shiny gold) matting for a nice presentation. See my other eBay listings for a few other works by Thompson… in eBay item number 223845471772, you can view the exhibition label to see the artist’s name all spelled-out in his handwriting. James Lawton Thompson was born on April 29, 1880. His father, Joseph Porter Thompson, originally from Kennebunk, Maine was VP of the Portland Society of Art. James L. Thompson would also become a Member of that arts organization and exhibit with them and at various venues such as the Portland Museum of Art. While from Portland and very active there, Thompson was essentially a Boston School artist who for many years worked from his space in the famous St. Botolph Studios where Frank W. Benson and the other artists were based out of. This was a somewhat unique situation at the Studios because artists would welcome collectors to stop by and make purchases and some would also provide art instruction to pupils there as well. After graduating from Harvard University, Thompson was soon back there from 1907-08 on a scholarship he won from the Architectural League of America. Back then, artists studied many things and took different directions in life but the main thing was ‘drawing’, even if you were going to become a sculptor and not a painter. From 1908-1910, Thompson was engaged in foreign study in European countries: England, France, Switzerland, Germany and Italy. While working, studying, sketching and painting in such countries, Thompson was involved with major institutions in various capacities such as exhibiting in their expositions, taking courses, and actually working for them as an employee. These included The British Museum, the Louvre, the Library of the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, etc. Back in the USA by 1910, James L. Thompson was studying and engaged in painting at the Boston School of Art as well as exhibiting at such places as the Portland Museum of Art. He referred to his activities in Boston during 1912-14 as including “class designing”, which I take to mean that Thompson had become perhaps an instructor or assistant. In 1914, he moved to New York City to work in the arts and also study graphics, drawing and etching (printmaking) at the Art Students League. He’d go on to become a great etcher and have exhibitions. For example, in 1922-23, his solo show of etchings at the Portland Society of Art at the L.D.M. Sweat Memorial Art Museum ran concurrently with the exhibition of watercolors by Winslow Homer. Thompson was also proud of a translation he compiled of Ferdinand de Lasteyrie’s work on Mediaeval Stained Glass.