John Warner Norton was an Illinois mural

Mural

A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...

ist and easel

Easel

An easel is an upright support used for displaying and/or fixing something resting upon it.-Etymology:The word is an old Germanic synonym for donkey...

 artist who pioneered the field in the United States.

Among his works are the landmark 1929 180 feet (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

Chicago Board of Trade Building

The Chicago Board of Trade Building is a skyscraper located in :Chicago, Illinois, United States. It stands at 141 W. Jackson Boulevard at the foot of the LaSalle Street canyon, in the Loop community area in Cook County. Built in 1930 and first designated a Chicago Landmark on May 4, 1977, the...

 (1930), his Tavern Club (Chicago) murals, his American Heritage Series at the Hamilton Park Field House, 513 W. 72nd St., Chicago, 4 murals at the St. Paul, Minnesota city hall, twelve murals comprising The History of Mankind (1923) at the Logan Museum of Anthropology

Logan Museum of Anthropology

Logan Museum of Anthropology is a museum of Beloit College, located in Beloit, Wisconsin, USA . It was founded in 1894 and contains about 300,000 archaeological and ethnological objects from around the world...

 at Beloit College

Beloit College

Beloit College is a liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin, USA. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, and has an enrollment of roughly 1,300 undergraduate students. Beloit is the oldest continuously operated college in Wisconsin, and has the oldest building of any college...

, in Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

, and his first major mural in the Cliff Dwellers' Club (1909).

Norton was born in Lockport, Illinois

Lockport, Illinois

Lockport is a city in Will County, Illinois, United States, that incorporated in 1853. Lockport is located in northeastern Illinois, 30 miles southwest of Chicago, and north of Joliet, at locks connecting Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal with the Des Plaines River via the Lockport...

, 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

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 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

Rough Riders

The Rough Riders is the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and the only one of the three to see action. The United States Army was weakened and left with little manpower after the American Civil War...

, he studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Art Institute of Chicago

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...

 (1897, 1899-1901). He was influenced by the Armory Show

Armory Show

Many exhibitions have been held in the vast spaces of U.S. National Guard armories, but the Armory Show refers to the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art that was organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors...

 and the Japanese printmaker Katsushika Hokusai. At the time of his death in Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

 of cancer, he was a popular and respected artist.

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
  Art Institute of Chicago
  The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
  
  
• Gold Medal of Honor for Mural Painting from the Architectural League of New York
  Architectural League of New York
  The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture, urbanism, and related disciplines"....
  
  (1931)

External links

• A discussion of the mounting of Ceres: http://aic.stanford.edu/jaic/articles/jaic24-01-002.html.

(JAIC 1984, Volume 24, Number 1, Article 2 (pp. 14 to 22) )