Art Talk: Thomas Jefferson Kitts and Mark Humpal

Thomas Jefferson Kitts, one of the title artists in current exhibition The Columbia River: Wallula to the Sea featuring works by Thomas Jefferson Kitts and Erik Sandgren, will talk about the body of work that he created for the exhibition. He will be joined by Mark Humpal, owner of Mark Humpal Fine Art. Humpal will talk about historic artists who painted along the Columbia River.

About the Speakers

Thomas Jefferson Kitts is inspired by the way light plays across his subjects and has devoted most of his life to traveling and capturing it in oil. Thomas prefers to work directly from life for its honesty and immediacy, incorporating many alla prima techniques developed by master artists such as Sargent, Sorolla, and Zorn. 

Thomas has painted observationally, en plein air, for more than 33 years, first starting out in 1984 after graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute. His work is in the permanent collections of Maryhill Museum of Art, Booth Western Art Museum, Fleischer Museum, Kaiser Permanente, Marriott Corporation, and Paul Allen Foundation. He is a Signature Member of the California Plein Air Painters, Laguna Beach Plein Air Painters Association, and the American Impressionist Society, as well as an Artist Member of Oil Painters of America and the California Art Club. 

Mark Humpal is the owner and director of Mark Humpal Fine Art, specializing in Oregon artwork spanning the period of the mid-1800s to 1970.  He is also an independent art reseacher with a special focus on early 20th century Oregon Impressionism.  He received his BA is Social Science from Marylhurst University and an MA in Counseling Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute.

The Mark Humpal Fine Art gallery features examples of the finest paintings and sculptures produced by Oregon artists from 1860 to 1970. Tucked away in the bustling Sellwood district in Southeast Portland, the gallery strives to present works which capture the spirit of the Northwest experience. The historical background and significance of every piece is important to the gallery as it endeavors to elevate the level of scholarship regarding the talented artists of this region, who often chose to work in an environment that stimulated artistic inspiration and vision at the expense of a more lucrative career in better-known art centers in America.