ARTHUR PARTON

(American, 1842-1914)

WOODLAND STREAM

Watercolor and Gouache on Artist's Prepared Card mounted on Board

21¼ x 16 Inches

Signed Lower Right, 'Arthur Parton'

 

This notable Hudson River School painter first studied under William Trost Richards, from whom he gained a grounding in the technical aspects of his craft, and, subsequently, at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. While in Philadelphia, he began to exhibit with success and, in 1864, moved to New York where he continued to exhibit before leaving for Europe in 1869. In France, he was influenced by the works of the Barbizon painters and then furthered his studies in Paris and London (1870) before continuing to Scotland (1871). Upon his return to America, he would go on to establish himself as a major figure in the art world, maintaining a studio at 51 West 10th Street from 1874 to 1893.

 

Best known for his landscapes of the Adirondacks and Catskill Mountains, Parton also painted in England and Scotland. During his career, he explored several styles including Tonalism and Impressionism, but remained closely influenced by the Hudson River style including Luminism. Parton was a member of the American Watercolor Society, the Artists Fund Society and, from 1871, the National Academy of Design, becoming a National Academician in 1884. Parton exhibited widely and with success including at the Corcoran Gallery of Art (1907-1908, 1910), Brooklyn Artists Association (1866-85), Philadelphia Centennial Exposition (1876), Boston Art Club (1882-1909), New York City (1886 gold medal), Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1889 Temple gold medal, 1891, 1896-97, 1905), Paris Exposition Universelle (1889 honorable mention), St Louis Exposition (1904 medal), the Art Institute of Chicago and, for more than 50 years, at the National Academy of Design (1862-1914, 1896 prize).

 

Parton gained widespread recognition after his painting of the Shenandoah River (1872) was published in William Cullen Bryant's 'Picturesque America'. Particular success at the 1876 Centennial Exposition furthered his national reputation. Works by Arthur Parton are held in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Newark Museum, the High Museum, the Hudson River Museum, the Hickory Museum and the Metropolitan Museum, among others.

 

Reference:

Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Peter Hastings Falk, Sound View Press 1999, Vol. 3, p. 2532; E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Jacques Busse, 1999 Nouvelle Édition, Gründ 1911, Vol. 10, p. 600; Thieme-Becker Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zu Gengenwart, Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag 1992, Vol. 25/26, p. 262; Biographical Encyclopedia of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers of the U.S.: Colonial to 2002, Bob Creps, Dealer’s Choice Books, Inc. 2002, Vol. 2, p. 1055-1056; 300 Years of American Art, Compiled by Michael David Zellman, Wellfleet Press 1987, Vol. 1, p. 393; Mallett’s Index of Artists, Daniel Trowbridge Mallett, Peter Smith: New York 1948 Edition, R.R. Bowker Company 1935, p. 329; Mantle Fielding’s Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers, Glen B. Opitz, Apollo Press 1983, p. 715; et al.