International studio (57.1915/1916)

The Art of Lawton Parker

ture Parker is a modern of the moderns, painting
the figure as it is without the formal design of
older art, but with the keenest observation of the
effects of the enveloping atmosphere and of re-
flected colour and light.
The occasion for the Gold Medal was the exhi-
bition of his Paresse or Idleness. It was for the
summer of 1912 that Parker had engaged models
for out-of-door work in Giverny, when continued
rains quite spoiled his plans and drove him to
work indoors. And there an accidental pose of
the model while resting suggested the composi-
tion of what became his first medal picture. Thus
mere circumstance headed him toward success,
and thorough training, accompanied by mature
judgment and taste, brought him to the goal.
In this picture, as in all our artist’s work, there
is nothing slurred and nothing hastily done, noth-
ing neglected and nothing forgotten. Every de-
tail is carefully planned, every subtlety premedi-
tated. In spite of its apparent spontaneity, the
arrangement of this beautiful picture is consciously
worked out even to the least line of the kimono,
the pattern of the couch drapery and the size of
the dots in the window curtain. In the flowing
folds of the drapery and the languorous curves of
the relaxed body there is a delicious ripple of line.
In the broad movement of tones there is a subtle


JUDGE PETER S. GROSSCUP

BY LAWTON PARKER

use of colour, a harmony in lavender, and in the
play of light from before and behind, as it falls on
face and figure, on couch and wall, there is the
utmost refinement of observation. Other nudes
by a few modern artists have shown a comparable
knowledge of form and an almost equal beauty of
line; but Paresse adds to both these qualities an
intimate study of mingled lights and a colour har-
mony of exquisite subtlety. And, finally, after
all the unnumbered thousands of nudes, here is a
pose which is perfectly natural and yet unfamiliar,
beautiful and yet interpretative of its theme of
idleness. Thus, in a way, the picture is typical of
the rounded completeness, the symmetrical char-
acter of the master’s work.
At the Panama-Pacific International Exposi-
tion Parker showed only two paintings, his
masterly portrait of Mrs. Ray Atherton and his
Paresse. For these he received a medal of honour.
Although in his figures out-of-doors, Parker
loves to paint a warm sunlight, in Early Morning,
one of his latest works, he has made use of a cool
blue light. Here the nude figure, seated on a
yellow couch and arranging some orange-coloured
flowers, faces the window screened by a reed cur-
tain and illumined by the morning sun. Here,
too, he has placed his model against the light as he
loves to do, and so multiplies the difficulties of his
task and the beauties of the result in his rendering
of the subdued light on the screen, the full light
on the window-sill and the reflections of various
lights on the delicate body.
His pictures, executed in the realistic manner,
show a rare combination of refined use of line, of
substantial form, and of delicate colour harmonies.
The classicism of an older art and the naturalism
of the moderns mingle here in perfect harmony.
Whether in My Model of 1900, Sylvia, Youth and
Spring, or in his latest work, Early Morning and
Paresse, beneath and behind the individuality of
each sitter the temporary beauty of the person
and the hour, there is a touch of the classic spirit,
of the breadth and purity of the ancient tradition.
Moreover, Parker’s conceptions are as subtle
and refined as his technique; his harmonious lines
and his rejoicing colours are all elements in a very
sincere and individual style. And that style,
whether seen in portraits, in figures or in land-
scapes, shows that Parker has a message to the
world, the message of his refined perception of form
and his subtle appreciation of colour. It is a mes-
sage high and rare, the message of pure beauty.

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