Robert Andrew Parker was a painter, printmaker, and illustrator whose expressionistic work merges abstraction and realism. Often using whatever tools he had in hand, he depicted animals, human portraits, imaginary battle scenes, and natural landscapes in a loose, fluid style. Throughout his practice, Parker combined areas of pure color with design organized through silhouette and shape, achieving “maximum effects with minimal amounts of detail.”
As a child, Parker contracted tuberculosis and spent his recovery period sketching, drawing, and painting. After graduating from the Art Institute of Chicago, he became an art instructor at the New York School for the Deaf and simultaneously developed his printmaking skills at Atelier 17. His work appeared in magazines such as Esquire, Sports Illustrated, and Time.
