Doris Alexander Thompson: 1906 – 1995

Painter, Lithographer, and Novelist

Doris Alexander Thompson was born on March 2, 1906, in Mobile, Alabama. Her talent surfaced at an early age. A portfolio of sketches she produced as a child are included in the collection.  Some of her earliest training was under the direction of celebrated Alabama artist, Roderick Mackenzie.

She was raised in Mobile and married the Rev. William Austin Thompson in 1926. The couple later relocated to Montgomery, where her husband served as rector of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter. Over the years, the couple also lived in Florence, Alabama, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Columbia, South Carolina, before retiring in Magnolia Springs, Alabama, where she passed away on September 20, 1995.

While living in Philadelphia in 1944, Alexander Thompson studied with Florence Tricker. She then entered the Art School of Temple University, where she took up lithography in earnest under the direction of Raphael Sabatini. After moving to Columbia, South Carolina, she returned to Philadelphia each summer for further study with Sabatini.

She also took painting courses under the direction of Alexander Abels. Alexander Thompson was a "true lithographer," not only did she sketch her compositions, but she also transferred her sketches to stones and made her own prints. Stone lithography, invented in 1798, was the first printmaking technique that allowed artists to create prints that could rival an original painting in terms of detail, mood, and color variations. This near extinct art, utilizing limestone slabs, requires special training, skill, and talent.