Harry Barton was born in Seattle.  After graduating from Broadway High, Barton got his first job as a commercial artist working in a sign shop.  After studying with Art Students League in New York City, Barton painted covers for Argosy and Exciting Westerns.  Through the 1950s and 1960s, Barton painted paperback book covers.  From the 1970s until his death, Barton specialized in paintings of the Old West, which he sold through the Smith Gallery in New York.

A selection of his paperback work can be found below: