Leslie Prince Thompson was born in 1880 in Medford, Massachusetts. In a move that would have lasting implications for his career in painting and teaching, he studied at the School of the Boston Museum under Edmund C. Tarbell. He would always remain under the latter's influence. Thompson, who would be influenced by Monet during later study in Paris, also studied with Tarbell and Ernest L. Mayer, a follower of Tarbell, as a private student.

The problem, if indeed it was a problem, was that Tarbell was the leader of the group of Boston artists emulating French Impressionist principles. A genteel dictator, all who followed--were dominated by-- him generally painted as he did. Tarbell emphasized technique, draftsmanship and "proper" subj...