Huntoon, Mary, 1896-1970

Kansas artist and art therapist, Mary Huntoon (professional name) was born Mary Huntoon Atkinson, 1896, in Topeka, Kansas. She was the daughter of Ruth Huntoon Atkinson and Franklin Henry Atkinson and the descendent of prominent Topeka pioneer, Joel Huntoon. Mary Huntoon spent six years of her childhood on the cattle ranch of her grandfather, Fred Huntoon, in Beaver County (No Man's Land), Oklahoma. At age twelve, she was rechristened Mary Huntoon Parsons and adopted by her mother's second husband, Harvey Greely Parsons.

Mary Huntoon studied art under native Kansan artist, George Stone and other instructors at Washburn University. After graduating from Washburn in 1920, Huntoon moved to New York City where she studied at the Art Students League. Among her instructors there were Joseph Pennell, Robert Henri, and George Bridgeman. In 1921, Huntoon received an assignment to do a series of etchings in Paris. She lived and studied in Paris and Corsica from 1921-1931. Huntoon's first one-artist show was in Paris at the Galerie Sacre du Printemps in 1929.

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