News & Events

• Carol is thrilled to be named a Signature Member of the Oil Painters of America. This unique distinction is awarded in recognition of outstanding accomplishment in representational oil paintings.
  
  
• Carol is very proud to have been recently promoted to "Associate Member" of the The American Academy of Equine Art. She was happy to participate in the Academy's Juried Exhibition this year which was held September 2 through October 15, 2011, at the Scott County Arts & Cultural Center Gallery in Georgetown, Kentucky.
  
  
• One of the finest honors of Carol's career was recently announced in the International 2010-2011 Art Renewal Center Salon competition. She was a finalist in three categories--Still Life, Landscape, and Animal!
  
  
• Carol was a finalist in the The Artist Magazine's 28th Annual Art Competition in the Animal/Wildlife Category. Her work was one of only about 300 works selected from about 7000 entries.
  
  
• Carol will once again join Cross Gate Gallery in their equestrian exhibits in Florida in 2012.
  
  
• She continues to exhibit in the Handwright Gallery's holiday exhibit.
  
  
• The Maryland Stadium Authority and the City of Baltimore recently dedicated a Wayside plaque at Camden Yards celebrating the Washington/ Rochambeau march through Baltimore. Carol was proud to create the oil painting depicting the encampment on the site of the stadium for the plaque.
  
  
• The Gaithersburg Patch featured "A Portrait of the Artist: Carol Lee Thompson," in July 2011 (by writer Bora Mici).
  
  
• Recently, another contemporary master passed. Frank Redelius was an artist, student and confidant of Jacques Maroger (credited with the re-discovery of the Old Masters medium) and author of The Master Keys. He was also a student of Ann Didusch Schuler and one of Baltimore's Six Realists. Sadly, within little more than a year, the art world has lost the two leading authorities on the Maroger medium.
  
  
• Carol invited David Leffel to Baltimore to give a workshop at Zoll Studio and visit the Schuler School of Fine Arts. Shown at right are David Leffel, Gerry Doyle, Carol Lee Thompson, and Frank Redelius, who gathered to talk art. Frank was the author of the The Master Keys: A Painter's Treatise on the Pictorial Technique of Oil Painting.
  
  
  

"Remembering Ann Didusch Schuler"
American Art Collector Magazine Article, December 2010
(click on image to enlarge)

"Carol Lee Thompson, Full Circle"
American Art Collector Magazine Article, July 2010
(click on image to enlarge)

An Essay on M. Jacques Maroger and the Maroger Medium

Jacques Maroger's (1884-1962) life mission was the rediscovery of the medium used by the Old Masters. He realized through his work at the Louvre that the technique of the Masters was based on transparency. He felt no contemporary artists could duplicate this. He observed the inner glow and permanency of color found in the Old Master mediums and that they gave artists a freedom of technique not found with other vehicles. Maroger did not want these mediums to be lost. In 1929 he developed his first medium but continued to refine it throughout his life. He would later work with Ann Schuler, head of the Schuler School, as well as other disciples. Maroger's background includes the Conservation Committee of the Louvre from 1930-1939. He was Technical Director of the Louvre, President of the French Restorers, General Secretary of the International Experts, and Professor at the School of the Louvre. In 1937 he became an Officer of the Legion of Honor.

In 1939, Maroger came to the United States and soon accepted a Professorship at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. It was here that he met Ann Schuler which began a great artistic bond. Ann was Maroger's assistant for over 20 years at the Maryland Institute. In 1959 Maroger encouraged Ann and her husband, sculptor Hans Schuler, to begin their own school of classical realism. The Schuler School of Fine Arts teaches the methods of the Old Masters in the style of the old world ateliers. The School just celebrated its 50th year in the historic 1906 sculpture studio. Ann Schuler, now 92, continues the legacy along with her daughter, grandsons, and alumni.

Students learn to make the Maroger medium, black oil, prepare their own painting surfaces, grind their pigments, and many other Old World techniques. They paint exclusively with the medium. Note that the medium may be referred to as Flemish, with variations such as Italian. Making the medium is rather complicated and should be learned while working with an experienced disciple. In purchasing the medium, be sure that it is properly made with the correct ingredients, as many individuals claim to know the recipe.

It is wonderful to see that the medium is today more respected and employed than ever. It is used by countless artists throughout the world including top names like David Leffel and Daniel Greene. I personally count the use of the medium as the single most important aspect of my work. I cannot sing the praises enough of Jacques Maroger and his "rediscovery" of the Masters' medium. Equally important is my education under my dearest friend and mentor Ann Schuler. It is nothing short of amazing the lives she has touched and enriched through art.

Note that Maroger published a book in 1948 on his rediscovery, The Secret Formulas and Techniques of the Old Masters.