Thomas Locker

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Thomas Locker teaching at Shimer College

Thomas Locker (June 26, 1937 — March 9, 2012)[1] was an American landscape painter and award winning illustrator and author of Children's literature[2] His oil paintings follow in the tradition of the 19th-century Hudson River School of painting.[3]

Born in New York City, Thomas Locker was raised in Washington D.C. where his father worked as a lobbyist. At age six he started training in traditional old-world techniques with painter Umberto Roberto Romano .[4] At age seven, Locker won first prize in the children's division of the Washington Times-Herald annual[5][circular reference] art fair. Locker earned an AB in Art History at the University of Chicago and a MA from the American University, Washington DC.[4] While at the University of Chicago he studied under professor Joshua C. Taylor[1], future director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. After graduating he studied art while traveling in Europe.[6]

In 1964 Locker began his more than 75 solo exhibitions career,[7] starting with the Banter Gallery, New York City.[4] He painted 17th century Dutch-inspired oil landscapes, selling through Sears' The Vincent Price Gallery, Chicago. During these years he also taught at Franklin College and Shimer College, while he and his wife raised their five children.[8]

In 1982 Locker began bringing the world of fine art to children and young adults, producing thirty-six[4] popular illustrated books. He authored most of these books and illustrated with his Hudson River School style oil paintings. Several books were collaborative works with his second wife, chemistry teacher and weaving expert Candace Christiansen.[9] Locker also illustrated books for other popular writers such as Jean Craighead George. Many of these books became staples of school libraries. Locker's works received numerous awards including the 1989 Christopher Award, the John Burroughs Medal, the 1984 New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book[10]and the American Library Association Notable Books for Children list.[11]

Locker experienced a near-death aneurysm in 2002. After this he moved from the Hudson River Valley to the less populated Catskills and returned to full-time oil painting of the American landscape. He remained in Albany, NY until his death at age 74.[4][12]

Books[]

  • Where the River Begins (1984)
  • The Mare on the Hill (1985)
  • Sailing with the Wind (1986)
  • To Climb a Waterfall (1995)
  • Sky Tree: Seeing Science Through Art (1995)
  • Water Dance (1997)
  • Cloud Dance (2000)
  • Mountain Dance (2001)
  • The Boy Who Held Back the Sea
  • Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle
  • The Ugly Duckling as told by Marianne Mayer
  • Catskill Eagle
  • Anna and the Bagpiper
  • The First Thanksgiving (1993)
  • Grandfather's Christmas Tree
  • Family Farm (Picture Puffins)
  • The Ice Horse
  • Calico and Tin Horns
  • The Young Artist (Picture Puffins)
  • Miranda's Smile
  • Rembrandt and Titus: Artist and Son; by Madeleine Comora
  • Rembrandt and Titus Classroom Posters
  • Home: A Journey through America
  • Hudson: The Story of a River
  • Snow Toward Evening: A Year in a River Valley / Nature Poems selected by Josette Frank
  • In Blue Mountains: An Artist's Return to America's First Wilderness (2000)
  • Images of Conservationists (Series): Walking With Henry: Based on the Life and Works of Henry David Thoreau (2002)
  • Images of Conservationists (Series): Rachel Carson: Preserving a Sense of Wonder
  • Images of Conservationists (Series): John Muir: America's Naturalist
  • Teacher's Guide to John Muir (Images of Conservationists series)
  • Journey to the Mountaintop: On Living and Meaning
  • The Land of Gray Wolf
  • The Earth Under Sky Bear's Feet
  • Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back: A Native American Year of Moons
  • Between Earth & Sky: Legends of Native American Sacred Places
  • The Man Who Paints Nature by Thomas Locker (Meet the Author series)[13]
  • Exhibition catalog: "Thomas Locker: The New American Realism" (R.S. Johnson-International Gallery, Spring, 1972)[14][15]
  • Exhibition catalog: "Thomas Locker: American landscapes: [exhibition] September 16-October 4, 1980, Hammer Galleries, New York" [16]

Notes[]

  1. ^ "Thomas Locker Obituary - East Jewett, New York - Tributes.com". www.tributes.com. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  2. ^ "The Life and Work of Thomas Locker". Barbsbooks.com. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  3. ^ "Obituary: Thomas Locker". Publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Thurlow, Kendra (August 28, 2008). "Hudson River in the Pioneer Valley". Valley Advocate.
  5. ^ "John N. Robinson - Wikipedia". en.m.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  6. ^ Thomas Locker, Sky Tree: Seeing Science Through Art (New York: HarperCollins Publishing, 1995 (unpag.).
  7. ^ "Thomas Locker | R. MICHELSON GALLERIES". www.rmichelson.com. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  8. ^ "Thomas Locker Obituary - (2012) - EAST JEWETT, NY - Albany Times Union". www.legacy.com. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  9. ^ "Anti-Rent Wars remembered in art, literature, and drama". The Altamont Enterprise. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  10. ^ "New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book | Book awards | LibraryThing". www.librarything.com. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  11. ^ Christiansen, Candace (September 1993). The Ice Horse. Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-8037-1400-7.
  12. ^ For further critics' characterisations and assessments of Locker's painting, see the Carrie Haddad Gallery publication http://www.carriehaddadgallery.com/index.cfm?method=Artist.ArtistDetail&ArtistID=56C9027C-115B-5562-AA1F1E9F305670FD
  13. ^ "Meet the Author - Thomas Locker". www.rcowen.com. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  14. ^ "Thomas Locker : American landscapes : [exhibition] September 16-October 4, 1980, Hammer Galleries, New York par Thomas Locker". LibraryThing.com (in French). Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  15. ^ Locker, Thomas; R.S. Johnson International (1972). Thomas Locker; the new American realism. Chicago. OCLC 623319.
  16. ^ "Détails de l'œuvre: Thomas Locker : American landscapes : [exhibition] September 16-October 4, 1980, Hammer Galleries, New York par Thomas Locker". LibraryThing.com (in French). Retrieved 2021-02-10.
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