Named in part for his birthplace, Wilton Lockwood dropped his Christian name. He was briefly in New York following death of his mother in 1865, before he took up residence with relatives on a farm in Rowayton, Connecticut. By the early 1880s, Lockwood was working as an assistant glass designer in the atelier of John LaFarge in New York.
Lockwood went to Paris in 1886, which would be his prinicpal residence for the next ten years. He enrolled in the Academie Julian, under Jean Joseph BenjaminÄConstant. Lockwood returned to the United States briefly during this time, executing portrait commission to finance his continued residence in Europe. In 1892, he married Ethel Whiton of Boston in London. Lockwood also worked with Frank Duveneck in Munich.
After his return in 1896, the artist settled in Boston, spending summer months on Cape Cod. Lockwood won award at exhibitions in Paris, Buffalo and SaintÄLouis in the early 1900s, after establishing his reputation as both a portraitist and still life painter.
In 1898, Lockwood became a member of the Society of American Artists. Although he was elected ANA by the Academy in 1902, Lockwood did not qualify, failing to submit a Self-Portrait. Thus, he became an associate member of the National Academy in 1906 when the two organizations merged.
The artist began renting a New York studio in 1912. He resided in New York until illness forced him to return to Boston.
