# Robert Andrew Parker artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/robert-andrew-parker/
Profile generated: 2026-05-25T04:58:20.063Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1927-05-14
- Nationality: American
- Common media: watercolor, painting, illustration

## About Robert Andrew Parker

Robert Andrew Parker (1927–2023) was an American painter, watercolorist, and illustrator born in Norfolk, Virginia. Over a career spanning more than seventy years, he produced paintings, watercolors, and illustrations for magazines, album covers, and books, becoming one of the most prolific illustrators of his generation. He received a 1970 Caldecott Honor for his illustrations in Pop Corn and Ma Goodness. Parker's work is held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and he continued creating art into his nineties despite macular degeneration. Collectors encounter his work across both fine-art and commercial illustration contexts, making him a distinctive figure in post-war American visual arts.

## Common works and media

Parker is known for watercolor paintings, oil paintings, mixed-media works on paper and canvas, and original illustration art created for book publishing, magazine features, and album covers. Collectors may encounter original watercolor illustrations from children's books, editorial drawings, and standalone fine-art watercolors. His fine-art output tends toward expressive, often loosely rendered compositions in watercolor and gouache.

## Market and appraisal context

Parker's work appears at auction in categories including watercolors, paintings, works on paper, and illustration art. His institutional representation at MoMA provides strong provenance context for collectors. When evaluating Parker pieces, factors to consider include whether a work is a fine-art painting or a commercial illustration original, the medium (watercolor, oil, or mixed media), provenance history, and condition. Published illustration art for recognized books or albums may carry additional interest. Comparable auction results from major houses should be reviewed for current market positioning.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from museum records, library authority files, and biographical sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Robert Andrew Parker, identity data is sourced from the Getty ULAN, VIAF, the RKD, Wikidata, and the Museum of Modern Art.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21973885
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Andrew_Parker
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500095281
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/92344092/
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/96215
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/6618
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79073605