Thomas Manning Thompson

Thomas Manning Thompson, 75, of Florence, AL, passed away on March 27, 2017.

He was born in Longview, MS, on September 26, 1941, graduated from Starkville High School and studied commercial art at Mississippi State University, where he served as Head of the Art and Photography Section of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (MAFES) Editorial Department for seven years.

He was known across the South for his composite drawings of small towns, known as Village Prints, created by Thompson and his two daughters. In 2002 his career advanced to fine art depicting pastoral landscapes that featured horses, figures, and architecture. Thompson’s work, which was a blend of realism and impressionism, was juried into exhibitions by Leu Gallery of Belmont University and Energen Corporation of Birmingham, AL. His painting, “Swinging Over the Harpeth,” was named to the Favorite 15% of the December 2009 FASO’s Bold Brush Painting Competition by acclaimed artist Nancy Guzik. Thompson’s paintings were featured in American Art Collector, Southwest Art, Horses in Art, Hills and Hamlets, Greater Nashville House, Home, and Garden and other publications.  During March and April 2015 he was invited to conduct a solo exhibition of his oil paintings at the University Club of Nashville on the Vanderbilt University campus. He was honored to have Vanderbilt University’s Engineering School use his invention of a traction tillage system as a senior engineering project during the 2013/14 academic year. He was invited to conduct solo exhibitions by art associations in Birmingham, Brentwood, Guntersville, Memphis, and Nashville. He was a member of the Oil Painters of America and Landscape Artists International. He taught selected oil painting workshops for the Chestnut Group of Nashville, TN.

Mr. Thompson was preceded in death by his parents, Virgil Manning and Eugenia Shropshire Thompson of Longview, MS.

He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Marie Kinard Thompson; brother, Rev. Benny R. (Cindy) Thompson, Associate Pastor, Senior Adults, First Baptist Church, Bentonville, AR; sister, Mary Lee (Don) Mott, Birmingham, AL; daughters, Michelle Rideout (Ken) of Brentwood, TN; and Melanie Gentle (Mike) of Hartselle, AL; four granddaughters, Shellie Elizabeth Gentle of Hartselle, AL; Ashley Kate Rideout of Brentwood, TN; Katherine Marie Gentle of Starkville, MS; and Sarah Margaret Rideout of Brentwood, TN.

A memorial service will be held at the Greenview Memorial Chapel, Florence, AL, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 1, 2017. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN; or a charity of your choice. 

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