Little is known of M.F. Thompson. He was born in Rushville, Illinois, in 1895, and studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. His only other recorded work is a Native American-themed illustration that exhibits the curvilinear treatment of foliage, suggesting an affinity with the art nouveau movement.

Thompson’s print of the Grand Canyon is notable for its extremely thick application of pigment. Sections of the greenery of the bristlecone pine at upper right show a thick border with a thinner, translucent center created when the block was pulled away from the paper.