Tom Barnett was a late 19th and early 20th-Century painter and architect, active primarily in St. Louis where he was born on February 11, 1870. He studied architecture with his father and painting under Paul Cornoyer.

Barnett was head of the architectural firm of J. P. Barnett & Company of St. Louis, but in later years devoted much time to painting. He earned the following awards:

Gold medal for architecture at the St. Louis Exposition, 1904
Bronze medal for architecture and painting, Portland Exposition, 1905
First Ives landscape prize, St. Louis Artist’s Guild, annually 1914-1925
Scott Memorial prize, Artist’s Guild, 1918
First architectural prize, Cook County Court House, Chicago
Art League Group prize, 1921-1926
Town Club purchase prize, 1922
Chamber of Commerce prize, 1922-1924;
First prize best group, Artist’s Guild, 1927, all of St. Louis

His paintings are in the St. Louis Museum of Fine Arts and Missouri State Capitol Art Museum, Springfield, Missouri.

He was a member of the Chicago Art Guild, National Arts Club, St. Louis Art Guild, Salmagundi Club, Chicago Galleries Association, Allied Artists of America, and American Federation of Arts.