Mildred Thompson

1936–2003

A 1957 graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., Thompson was mentored by famed African American art historian James Porter.

Mildred Thompson

1936–2003

A 1957 graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., Thompson was mentored by famed African American art historian James Porter.

Mildred Thompson

1936–2003

A 1957 graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., Thompson was mentored by famed African American art historian James Porter.

Mildred Thompson

1936–2003

A 1957 graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., Thompson was mentored by famed African American art historian James Porter.

Thompson also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and attended the Art Academy of Hamburg (Germany). She received critical recognition in the early 1960s when her work was purchased by the Museum of Modern Art and the Brooklyn Museum.

Despite her burgeoning success, Thompson, who tired of the racial and gender discrimination that she was subject to, left the United States for Germany. She spent the better part of the 1960s and 70s in “self-imposed exile in Germany.” During her time in Europe, Thompson produced a significant body of work. In Europe where she enjoyed a new-found level of patronage, Thomas’ work was included in a number of exhibitions.

From 1979-85 Thompson divided her time between various studios in Washington, D.C. and Paris, France. A prolific artist and multi-faceted artist, Thomas also explored photography, made documentary films, taught at the Atlanta College of Art for ten years and served as an Associate Editor at Art Papers magazine.

Thompson’s, critically acclaimed work has been published extensively in catalogs and major publications—in the United States and abroad. In the final decade of her life and career Mildred Thompson participated in the 1992 Dakar Biennale in Senegal and the 2018 Berlin Biennial.

The Artist’s Work in Other Collections (selected)

• The American Federation of Arts, NY
• The Birmingham Museum of Art
• The Brooklyn Museum, NY
• The Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta, GA
• The Cummer Museum, Jacksonville, FL
• The Museum of Modern Art, NY
• The National Museum of Women in the Arts, D.C.
• The Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.
• The Leopold Hoesch Museum, Düren, and the Hamburg Museum, Germany

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Exhibitions (Artist)
• Howard University, Washington, D.C.
• Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
• Agnes Scott College, Atlanta, GA
• Auburn University, Auburn, AL
• Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, Jacksonville, FL
• Brenau College, Gainesville, GA
• The Leopold Hoesch Museum
• Düren and Hochschule für Kunst and Design in Halle, Germany.

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Awards, Commissions, Public Works
• In 1956 earned a Max Beckmann Scholarship to study at The Brooklyn Museum School (1957-58)
• In 1959, she participated in a residency at Castle Roccassinibaldi, Italy, and in 1961 and 1962 was also selected for the prestigious MacDowell Colony residency in New Hampshire.
• In 1974 a National Endowment for the Arts grant
• In 1986 she accepted an artist-in-residence post at Spelman College, Atlanta, GA,

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