The lyricism of impressionism and the boldness and detail of more traditional schools of art unite in the oils and watercolors of artist Marcia Toepfer.  By combining her deep passions for architecture, art, history, and horticulture she has created her own unique style.  Ms. Toepfer is equally at ease in the mediums of watercolor and oil.

Ms. Toepfer’s paintings reawaken cherished memories of European travels—the distant red-tiled roofs of Tuscany, the mystery and charm of medieval cities in England, and fields of verdant olive gardens in France.  Works from her 2008 painting trips to Italy (Venice, Florence, Assisi, and Rome) and England (The Isle of Wight, Hastings, Rye, and Battle Abbey) are available for purchase.  This spring she will travel again with her paints to southern France (Provence and Languedoc-Rousillion).  These beautiful places are the backdrop to some of her most engaging and appreciated works, from intimate close-ups of flowers to inviting garden settings. 

In May 2008, the Curator of painting and sculpture at the National Portrait Gallery selected her painting “River Idyll” for exhibition.  Ms. Toepfer was a juried “bin” member of The Art League Gallery at the Torpedo Factory, Old Town Alexandria (2008).  The Senior Conservator for Loans and Exhibits at the National Gallery of Art awarded Ms. Toepfer’s oil painting “Rooftops” an Honorable Mention in July 2007; it sold the next day!  She has had five solo shows at Loft Gallery, where she was a member from 2000-2009.  Other venues include Green Springs Park (2006), River Farm, Alexandria (2005), the Vienna Art Society (2004), & the Wilson Gallery, D.C.  Her work appears in many private collections, including those of Conrad Cafritz, Richard Hindin, and the late Alice Marriott. 

Marcia Lynn Toepfer is a graduate of NYC’s nationally known and highly competitive High School of Music and Art (now the LaGuardia School for the Art, Music & the Performing Arts).  She studied oil painting with the late Alan Kaprow, a leader of the New York art movement and student of the German Expressionist Hans Hoffmann, and drawing with the late Robert White, Prix de Rome winner and grandson of architect Stanford White.  Professors Kaprow and White rated Ms. Toepfer’s work with a rare 4.0.  She also studied with the late Bob Hof, for whom she created The Art League’s Hof Award.

Since 2009 Ms. Toepfer has been teaching art classes at the Lifetime Learning Institute-NOVA (Annandale Branch).   She created the course “Illuminating Painting: Methods and Methology,” which explains the techniques of watercolors and oil painting and gives students hands-on practice.  She also teaches watercolor painting at LLI.  Her students gave her excellent evaluations in each course. 

Ms. Toepfer received her doctorate in history from the University of Virginia at the age of 26.  After 31 years as a senior analyst in the Department of Defense, she happily concentrates on her art.

Juried Art/Arts & Crafts Shows for Marcia Lynn Toepfer

Home Shows, May 2010and December 2009 and 2008
The Falls Church Memorial Day Show, May 2009
The Mt. Vernon Unitarian Holiday Show (juried show), November 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005
The Art League Gallery (juried shows), Torpedo Factory, Old Town Alexandria, May 2008, January 2008
The Falls Church Holiday Show (juried show), December 2007, 2006, 2005
Solo Show “Going Places,” The Loft Gallery, Occoquan, October 2007
Honorable Mention, The Art League Gallery (juried show), Torpedo Factory, Old Town Alexandria, July 2007
McLean Day (juried show), May 2007
The Falls Church Autumn Festival, October 2006
Green Springs Park duo show, Spring 2006
The Art League Gallery, Torpedo Factory, Old Town Alexandria, 2006
Solo Show “Sunlit Days,” The Loft Gallery, Occoquan, December 2005
The Art League Gallery (juried show), Torpedo Factory, Old Town Alexandria, 2005
The Falls Church Spring Festival (juried show), 2005
River Farm, The American Horticultural Society, Alexandria, 2005
The Vienna Art Society, 2004
Solo Show “Seasonal Splendor,” The Loft Gallery, Occoquan, December 2002
Solo Show “Beautiful Places,” The Loft Gallery, Occoquan, June 2001
The Washington Shakespeare Theater, February 2001
The Springfield Art Guild at the Franconia Government Center, January 2001
The Wilson Gallery, 706 E Street, Washington, D,C. (now closed) juried shows, D.C, 1998, 1999, 2000