Itaglio vitreograph, 1993. 749x609 mm; 29 1/2x24 inches, full margins. Signed, dated, numbered 3/20 and inscribed "Littleton Studios, Spruce Pine, NC" in pencil, lower margin. Printed at Littleton Studios, Spruce Pine, NC.
Mildred Thompson had a lifelong fascination with scientific phenomena, studying space, mathematics and physics, much like her fellow Washington, DC artist, Alma Thomas. These interests are reflected particularly in her prints of the Helio Centric Series.
Thompson began formal artistic training at Howard University in 1953, studying under James A. Porter--artist, instructor of painting and drawing, chairman of the art department and director of the Howard University Gallery of Art. Professor Porter published Modern Negro Art in 1943, the first comprehensive study in the United States of African American art. After graduation, Porter continued to advise Thompson and suggested she study in Germany.
Thompson developed her innovative forms of abstraction in printmaking and wood construction while living between Cologne and Aachen. In 1973, Thompson had a one-person exhibition at the Neue Galerie in Aachen. Thompson's prints from this period were recently exhibited in Mildred Thompson Resonance, Selected Works from the 1990s at the Savannah College of Art and Design Museum of Art, June 23 – October 2, 2016.
