Lawton S. Parker

Lawton S. Parker (7 April 1868 – 1954) was an American impressionist painter.

Born in Fairfield, Michigan, raised in Kearney, Nebraska, Parker studied at the Art Institute of Chicago beginning in 1886. He traveled to France and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts. For a time, he was associated with the Giverny group and adopted an impressionist style. After return to the United States, in 1892 he was appointed professor of the Saint Louis School of Fine Arts. He became director of art at Beloit College in 1893, and president of the New York School of Art in 1898-99. Beginning 1903, he resided in Chicago and taught at the Art Institute.

Among his sitters for portraits were Martin A. Ryerson, J. Ogden Armour, N. W. Harris, Harry P. Judson and Peter S. Grosscup. He received dhe silver medal at the Saint Louis Exposition in 1904; gold medals at the International Exposition, Munich, in 1905, and at the Paris Salon in 1913 (the first American so honored); and was awarded the medal of honor at the Panama Exposition in 1915.

He died at age 86 in Pasadena, California. Most of Parker's effects, including a sizable amount of his paintings, were kept in storage until his son could not make the payments.