Born in Lachine, Quebec, Lilias Torrance Newton exhibited an early talent for painting. She attended the junior elementary class at the Art Association of Montreal, winning two scholarships over her years there. She exhibited at the annual exhibition of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1916, for the first time, at the age of twenty. During the First World War, she and her mother traveled overseas to serve in the Red Cross. Three of her brothers fought at the Front, one did not return. Before her return to Canada, she studied for a time in London, under the artist, Alfred Wolmark.
She exhibited in the Spring Exhibition at the Art Association of Montreal upon her return to Canada. In 1920, she founded the Beaver Hall Group of artists along with Edwin Holgate, Randolph Hewton and Mabel May. In 1921, two of her paintings were acquired by the National Gallery of Canada. Following her marriage to Fred Newton, she traveled to Europe for further studies in Paris. She exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1923, where her portrait painting of Denise Lamontagne recieved honorable mention. A founding Member of the Canadian Group of Painters in 1933, by this time Newton had begun to make a name for herself as a leading portraitist. Her portraiture style was refreshing and informal. Over the years she painted many noted Canadians, including politicians and businessmen and socialites. In 1957, with her portait of HRH Queen Elizabeth II, she became the first Canadian to paint an official portrait of the reigning monarch. she also painted many of her artist colleagues, such as A.Y. Jackson, Lawren Harris, Andre Bieler and many others. These were her most powerful works, owing to the warmth her connection to her friends. In time she was recognized as Canadas most celebrated portraitist.
Lilias Torrance Newton was also an art educator. For several years, she taught with Edwin Holgate at the Art Association of Montreal. She had many exhibitions with her distinguished colleagues, including a four woman show at the Print Room, with Prudence Heward, Anne Savage, and Ethel Seath. Her last solo exhibition was ath Victoria College in Toronto in 1958. She died in Cowansville, Quebec in 1980.