John W. Norton

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John Warner Norton (7 March 1876 - 7 January 1934) was an Illinois muralist and easel artist who pioneered the field in the United States.

Among his works are the landmark 1929 180-foot (55 m) long ceiling mural for the concourse ceiling of the Chicago Daily News Building (not currently installed in this building which has been renamed), the Ceres mural in the Chicago Board of Trade Building (1930), his Tavern Club (Chicago) murals, his American Heritage Series at the Hamilton Park Field House, 513 W. 72nd St., Chicago, a mural at the St. Paul, Minnesota city hall, twelve murals comprising The History of Mankind (1923) at the Logan Museum of Anthropology at Beloit College, in Wisconsin, and his first major mural in the Cliff Dwellers' Club (1909).

Norton was born in Lockport, Illinois, the son of John Lyman Norton and Ada Clara Gooding Norton. The family ran the Norton & Co. of Lockport. Norton's study of the law at Harvard University was broken off when the family's firm went bankrupt. Before and after a period of living as a cowboy and enlisting with the Rough Riders, he studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago (1897, 1899-1901). He was influenced by the Armory Show and the Japanese printmaker Katsushika Hokusai. At the time of his death in Charleston, South Carolina of cancer, he was a popular and respected artist.

[edit] Honors

William M. R. French memorial Gold Medal (1924)
Norman Waite Harris Bronze Medal (1926)
honorary Master of Fine Arts from the Art Institute of Chicago
Gold Medal of Honor for Mural Painting from the Architectural League of New York (1931)

[edit] References

Zimmer, John L. (2005-06) "Memories of John W. Norton's Mural Masterpiece," The Living Museum 67(4): 4-8.
Gray, Mary Lackritz (2001) A Guide to Chicago's Murals. University Of Chicago Press.
Tallmadge, Thomas and Tom Lea (1935) John W. Norton, American Painter. Lakeside Press: Chicago (privately printed).
John Warner Norton (catalogue raisonné). Illinois State Museum.