During his time, Leslie “Let” Prince Thompson was one of Boston’s most well-known portrait and still life painters, as well as a respected teacher. He taught at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts from 1913 to 1930, following in the footsteps of prominent Boston artists Edmund Tarbell and Frank Benson.

Like his teachers and Boston contemporaries, Thompson worked in a range of subjects and varied his approach depending on his theme and the environment. Portraits, figure compositions, and still lifes completed in his studio were often rendered with controlled brushwork, paying close attention to color, texture and shape, and combining strong light and dark elements in one space. Conversely, his beach scenes and landscapes, such as Coastal Inlet, are much freer and more spontaneous in execution, revealing his embrace of the principles of Impressionism practiced by Tarbell, Benson, and other Boston artists involved with the movement.

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