Arthur Parton was born in Hudson, New York March 26, 1842. He enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, studying under William Trost Richards. Gaining a keen grounding in the technical aspects of his art, Richards remained a strong influence.
Parton was known as a Hudson River School painter, especially of river and mountain landscapes. His first exhibition was in 1862 in Philadelphia. Parton settled in New York City in 1865, and became well-established in the New York City art world. He was elected as an Associate Member of the National Academy of Design in 1871, and Academician in 1884. He was a regular exhibitor at the Academy for more than half a century. In 1886, he received the Gold Medal of the American Art Association and the Temple Medal from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. He also won a competitive prize in the Paris Exposition in 1900, and the St. Louis Exposition of 1904.
In 1869, Parton spent a year in Europe, where he was influenced by the Barbizon painters. The works that brought him public prominence were: On the Road to Mt. Marcy (1873, location unknown), A Mountain Brook (1874, location unknown), and Evening, Harlem River (1887, location unknown). His Loch Lomond, and Solitude (dates and locations unknown) attracted a great deal of attention at the Centennial Exposition of 1876 and gave him a national reputation. "In any foreign collection of paintings", the New York Post said, "Mr. Parton's work would be distinctly American."
Along with his brother Ernest, Arthur Parton was a central member of the Hudson River School and his work follows the naturalistic mode. His year of study in Europe in 1869 influenced his style, creating pastoral landscapes with softer brushwork and pronounced attention to tone.
Parton painted throughout the Catskills and Adirondack Mountains, and the Shenandoah, Hudson, and other area rivers. He was a member of the American National Academy, American Water Color Society, Artist's Fund Society, and the National Academy of Design Public. His works are represented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Newark Museum, the Hudson River Museum, the High Museum of Art, and the Washington County Museum of Art. He died in 1914 at the age of 71.
