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  Impressionism,
a movement in painting that developed in late-19th-century France
in reaction to the formalism and sentimentality of academic art.
Impressionism painting arose out of dissatisfaction with the classical
subjects and painting techniques of the Académie des Beaux-Arts
in Paris, which set French art standards. Rejecting these standards,
impressionists painted outside, choosing landscapes, street scenes,
and figures from everyday life. Impressionists were concerned more
with the effects of light on an object than with exact depiction
of form. Using short brushstrokes, they juxtaposed primary and complementary
colors, which blended in brilliant hues and luminous tones when
viewed from a distance.
Édouard Manet, sometimes called the first impressionist,  
demonstrated that light could be shown in painting by juxtaposing
bright, contrasting colors, rather than by shading with intermediary
tones. The various impressionists developed individual styles but,
as a group, benefited from their common experiments in color. Claude
Monet painted many series of studies, each done at different times
of the day and in different seasons. Camille Pissarro used a subdued
palette and concentrated equally on the effects of light and on
the structure of forms. Edgar Degas caught the fleeting moment,
especially in ballet and horse-racing scenes. Pierre Auguste Renoir
preferred to paint the female form. Berthe Morisot painted subtle
landscapes that gained strength from brushwork rather than color.
French impressionism influenced artists throughout the world, 
including Americans J. M. Whistler, Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent,
Willard Metcalf, John Twactman, Child Hassam and Englishman Walter
Sickert, Italian Giovanni Segantini, and Spaniard Joaquín Sorolla
and Richard Earl Thompson. Impressionism also affected the development
of painting. Painters who began as impressionists created other
techniques that started new movements in art, including pointillism,
postimpressionism, cubism, expressionism digressing to modernism.
In 1986, the deservedly popular Impressionist exhibition title,
"The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874-1886" stimulated
curiosity about artists who have continued this art form. Richard
Earl Thompson (1914-1991) was one of these artists. A dedicated
Impressionist, he
devoted a lifetime of effort to capturing the quality of nature's
light on canvas for all to see and enjoy. Challenged by questions
and statements such as, "Impressionism today? Who needs it?
It's been done," dedicated painters such as Richard Earl Thompson
could and did answer, "We all do."
Always a favorite with the public, "fresh-air" painting
with its loose brushwork, pleasing images, and particularly, the
sparkling light quality which is inherent in the best of the past
works, is equally pleasurable when found in the best of contemporary
work. Richard Earl Thompson strengthened and modified through personal
expression these tenets of Impressionism. Using pigment available
today which the early Impressionists lacked, he achieved even greater
variations of light and color - exuberant color - which in the hands
of this gifted artist inspired masterful works.
 The
current resurgence of interest in Impressionism, following years
of erroneously being referred to all too frequently as just another
"pretty picture," is welcome. This fine art, when painted
with consummate skill, marked by dedication to color and form is
once again receiving recognition. Requiring no text to explain the
art and being free from politics, Richard Earl Thompson's canvases
reveal the beauty and truth or our world as seen through the eyes
of an accomplished 20th century painter. History has been recorded
in an individualistic manner for future generations.
A multiplicity of art forms make up our heritage; no one form invalidates
another, but the components of skillful compositions, fine  draftsmanship,
a sure knowledge of and inspired use of color, showing clearly the
painstaking training in the fundamentals marks the work of Richard
Earl Thompson. A serious and competent painter, his large body of
work illustrates the technical growth and development of his own
style. in the Impressionistic manner.
Growth in the field of Impressionism did not end with the eighth
Impressionist group show, and with the widely disseminated knowledge
available to the general public today, quality is readily apparent
which explains why there has always been an enthusiastic audience
for the work of Richard Earl Thompson. His ability to capture the
color of things as the sun changes and "recreates" them
makes his powerful and pleasing canvases a life affirming refreshment
to the senses and a continuation of the work begun by those innovative
and courageous 19th century painters revered by the world today.
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