Lenton Parr (11 September 1924 – 8 August 2003) was an Australian sculptor and teacher .
Born in East Coburg, Victoria Lenton Parr spent eight years in the Royal Australian Air Force before enrolling to study sculpture at the Royal Melbourne Technical College (now RMIT University), then worked in England 1955–57 as an assistant to Henry Moore. There he was influenced by Reg Butler and Eduardo Paolozzi to work with enamelled steel structures, which was to become his lifelong specialty. After his return to Melbourne he showed at Peter Bray Gallery in 1957, and embarked on a career in art education which culminated in his appointment as director (1974–84) of the Victorian College of the Arts.
He was a member of the Victorian Sculptors' Society and its seventh president. Around 1960 he joined with Clifford Last, Inge King, Vincas Jomantas and Teisutis Zikaras to form a splinter group which exhibited together as the 'Centre Five'. In 1967 the group split from the Society, which never recovered from the departure of so many of its prominent members.
In 1977 he was invested with the Order of Australia for his services to sculpture and the arts. He was awarded Honorary Doctorate in Arts (RMIT University) in 1992. A major monograph on his work was published in 1999. The Lenton Parr Library (Lenton Parr Music, Visual and Performing Arts Library—formerly Victorian College of the Arts Library) of the University of Melbourne was named for him.
1956 Obelisk Gallery, London
1957 Peter Bray Gallery, Melbourne
1958 Victorian Sculptors Society
1958 Gallery A, Melbourne
1961 Mildura Art Gallery
1961 Musee Rodin, Paris, 2nd Int'l Expo of Contemporary Sculpture
1962 Hungry Horse Gallery, Sydney
1963 Sculpture Today, National Gallery of Victoria and Regional Galleries
1963 Centre 5, Newcastle City Art Gallery, NSW
1964-65 Recent Australian Sculpture, Touring Australian State Galleries
1964 Centre 5, Hungry Horse Gallery, Sydney
1966 Australian Sculpture Centre, Canberra
1968 Bonython Art Gallery, Sydney
1969 Bonython Art Gallery, Sydney
1973 Centre 5, Geelong Art Gallery, Victoria
1973 Centre 5, McCelland Art Gallery, Victoria
1977 Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane
1978 Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne
1981 Axiom Gallery, Melbourne
1984-85 Lenton Parr Sculpture: Retrospective, National Gallery of Victoria
1987 Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne
1988-89 Manly Bicentennial Sculpture Commission
1990 Melbourne International Festival, Melbourne
1990 Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne
1990 Melbourne Sculptural Triennial, Melbourne
1990 A-Z Gallery, Tokyo
1992 Irving Galleries, Sydney
1993 Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne
1995 Australia Felix, Benalla, Victoria
1996 A Sculpture Walk in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne
1997 Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne
1998 The Mentors: Work by the 6 Deans of the Victorian College of the Arts School of Art, Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne
Represented in most State Gallery and other Public Collections and in various Institutional and Private Collections including:
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery of Western Australia
Australian National Gallery
Australian National University
Ballarat College of Advanced Education
Carrick Hill, South Australia
Deakin University'
Geelong Art Gallery
La Trobe University
McClelland Gallery, Langwarrin
Melbourne College of Advanced Education
Mildura Arts Centre
National Gallery of Victoria
Newcastle Region Art Gallery
Phillip Institute of Technology
Queensland Art Gallery
Queensland University of Technology
University of Melbourne
Victoria College
Victorian College of the Arts
Warrnambool Art Gallery
1954 Melbourne Grammar School
1958 Union Theatre, University of Melbourne
1959 Chadstone Shopping Centre, Victoria
1960 Offices of Bernard Evans & Associates, Melbourne
1961 Telstro House, Queen Street, Melbourne
1961 Chemistry Building, ANU, Canberra
1962 Geology Building, ANU, Canberra
1962 State Savings Bank, Showgrounds Branch, Melbourne
1963 ‘Age’ offices, Collins Street, Melbourne
1964 Burwood Teachers’ College, Burwood, Victoria
1964 John Curtin Memorial Building, ANU, Canberra
1965 General Motors - Holden, Fishermen’s Bend, Melbourne
1966 New Customs House, William Street, Melbourne
1968 Philip Morris P/L, Moorabbin, Victoria
1969 IAC Building, Exhibition Street, Melbourne
1970 Technical Teachers’ College, Malvern, Victoria
1970 Astrojet Building, Tullamarine, Victoria
1972 Private Commission, Hobart
1972 State College of Victoria, Coburg
1978 Australian Wool Corporation
1981 Victorian College of Pharmacy
1988 Elgee Park, Merricks, Victoria
1988-89 Bicentennial Sculpture, The Corso, Manly, NSW
2001 Besen Collection, Tarrawarra Estate, Victoria
