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, London1957 Peter Bray Gallery, Melbourne1958 Victorian Sculptors Society1958 Gallery A, Melbourne1961 Mildura Art Gallery1961 Musee Rodin, Paris, 2nd Int'l Expo of Contemporary Sculpture1962 Hungry Horse Gallery, Sydney1963 Sculpture Today, National Gallery of Victoria and Regional Galleries1963 Centre 5, Newcastle City Art Gallery, NSW1964-65 Recent Australian Sculpture, Touring Australian State Galleries1964 Centre 5, Hungry Horse Gallery, Sydney1966 Australian Sculpture Centre, Canberra1968 Bonython Art Gallery, Sydney1969 Bonython Art Gallery, Sydney1973 Centre 5, Geelong Art Gallery, Victoria1973 Centre 5, McCelland Art Gallery, Victoria1977 Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane1978 Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne1981 Axiom Gallery, Melbourne1984-85 Lenton Parr Sculpture: Retrospective, National Gallery of Victoria1987 Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne1988-89 Manly Bicentennial Sculpture Commission1990 Melbourne International Festival, Melbourne1990 Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne1990 Melbourne Sculptural Triennial, Melbourne1990 A-Z Gallery, Tokyo1992 Irving Galleries, Sydney1993 Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne1995 Australia Felix, Benalla, Victoria1996 A Sculpture Walk in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne1997 Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne1998 The Mentors: Work by the 6 Deans of the Victorian College of the Arts School of Art, Victorian Arts Centre, MelbourneRepresented in most State Gallery and other Public Collections and in various Institutional and Private Collections including:
Art Gallery of New South WalesArt Gallery of Western AustraliaAustralian National GalleryAustralian National UniversityBallarat College of Advanced EducationCarrick Hill, South AustraliaDeakin University'Geelong Art GalleryLa Trobe UniversityMcClelland Gallery, LangwarrinMelbourne College of Advanced EducationMildura Arts CentreNational Gallery of VictoriaNewcastle Region Art GalleryPhillip Institute of TechnologyQueensland Art GalleryQueensland University of TechnologyUniversity of MelbourneVictoria CollegeVictorian College of the ArtsWarrnambool Art Gallery1954 Melbourne Grammar School1958 Union Theatre, University of Melbourne1959 Chadstone Shopping Centre, Victoria1960 Offices of Bernard Evans & Associates, Melbourne1961 Telstro House, Queen Street, Melbourne1961 Chemistry Building, ANU, Canberra1962 Geology Building, ANU, Canberra1962 State Savings Bank, Showgrounds Branch, Melbourne1963 ‘Age’ offices, Collins Street, Melbourne1964 Burwood Teachers’ College, Burwood, Victoria1964 John Curtin Memorial Building, ANU, Canberra1965 General Motors - Holden, Fishermen’s Bend, Melbourne1966 New Customs House, William Street, Melbourne1968 Philip Morris P/L, Moorabbin, Victoria1969 IAC Building, Exhibition Street, Melbourne1970 Technical Teachers’ College, Malvern, Victoria1970 Astrojet Building, Tullamarine, Victoria1972 Private Commission, Hobart1972 State College of Victoria, Coburg1978 Australian Wool Corporation1981 Victorian College of Pharmacy1988 Elgee Park, Merricks, Victoria1988-89 Bicentennial Sculpture, The Corso, Manly, NSW2001 Besen Collection, Tarrawarra Estate, Victoria
