Woods Interior
Year 1920
Artist John Edward Thompson (1882–1945, American)
Media oil on canvas
Dimensions 15 1/8 x 18 1/4 inches
John Edward Thompson is considered the first truly modernist painter in Colorado. Born in Buffalo, New York, Thompson enrolled in Buffalo’s Art Students League studying with noted illustrator Lucius Hitchcock. He later moved to New York City and entered the Art Students League there. Thompson moved to Paris in 1902 and studied with Jean Paul Laurens and other artists at the Académie Julian and with Edmond Francois Aman-Jean at La Palette. He remained in Europe until 1914, and while there was greatly influenced by the work of Cézanne and the post-impressionists. He initially came to Colorado in 1914 and moved to Denver permanently in 1917. In 1919, Thompson’s work was included in the now infamous Twenty-fifth Annual Exhibition of the Denver Art Association at the Denver Public Library which shockingly introduced the city to modern art. Thompson taught art at the Denver Academy of Fine and Applied Art and the Chappell School of Art. When the Chappell School was acquired by the University of Denver, Thompson taught there from 1929 until his death in 1945.
ON VIEW in Art Nouveau Gallery 4
Signature unsigned
Credit Line Collection Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art; Gift of the Denver Art Museum
Accession Number 2017.72.007
