The Little Review, May 1914 (Vol. 1., No. 3) — John Shaqi
The Little Review, May 1914 (Vol. 1., No. 3)Various
General
The Little Review, May 1914 (Vol. 1., No. 3)
Various
Literature, Modern -- 20th century -- Periodicals
Lawton Parker's canvases in his Giverny style are interesting
technically. On a foundation of very careful drawing they are handled
with great freedom of execution. The brush work is loose and vigorous,
the paint being laid on thickly, especially in the background. The flesh
is painted more closely, always with great subtlety in the values. A
nude body in the shade flecked with spots of brilliant sunlight is a
favorite and very difficult subject, in which this subtlety is well
shown. The color is excellent, at times, as in the prize picture, very
delicate and carefully harmonized; at times dealing successfully with
great splashes of autumn leaves or the vivid green of spring foliage.
The composition is pleasing.
Mr. Parker is not by any means limited to this style. Indeed, it is in
another and quite different character that he is best known in this
country. As a portrait painter his work has for a number of years been
gaining steadily in popularity. Many prominent people have sat for him,
including President Harry Pratt Judson, Judge Peter S. Grosscup, Martin
Ryerson, Mrs. Leonard Wood, and Mrs. N. W. Harris.
This portrait style of Mr. Parker's is very different from his Giverny
style. He developed it much earlier in his career, but still uses it on
occasion. The difference is one of psychological viewpoint rather than
of technic. A portrait, he feels, should be a livable presentation of
the subject. It is not a picture to be looked at casually and passed by,
but a work to be lived with intimately for long spaces of time. The
exceptions are, of course, those portraits of well-known men and women
which are to hang in public places. Generally speaking, he paints his
portraits in color schemes that will wear well, in a rather low key,
with neutral backgrounds. These likenesses are solid, dignified, and
simple. To catch the individuality of the sitter is of more importance
to him than to paint a striking canvas. That his portraits are
successful technically is proved by the fact that he has taken a number
of prizes with them, both here and abroad.
Lawton Parker was born at Fairfield, Michigan, in 1868, but spent his
early youth in Kearney, Nebraska. When he took up seriously the study of
painting he moved to Chicago, which has since remained his pied-à-terre
in this country. He studied and taught at the Art Institute there. Later
he went to New York, where, in 1897, he took the "Paris Prize" founded
by John Armstrong Chaloner: a five years' scholarship abroad. In Paris
he studied under Gerome, Whistler, and Jean Paul Laurens. In 1899 he
took the "Prix d'atelier" at the Beaux Arts. In 1900 he received
honorable mention at the Old Salon with a nude; in 1902 a third medal,
on a portrait. Four years ago he missed by three votes a second medal,
which was fortunate for him, since the first cannot be awarded a painter
who has received a second.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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