Maxfield Parrish

This article is about the American painter and illustrator. For the British fashion label, seeMaxfield Parrish (clothing).

Maxfield Parrish
Maxfield Parrish in 1896
Born	Frederick Parrish (1870-07-25)July 25, 1870 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,U.S.
Died	March 30, 1966(1966-03-30)(aged 95) Plainfield, New Hampshire,U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	Haverford College
Known for	Painter, illustrator
Spouse	Lydia Ambler Austin (1872–1953)

Maxfield Parrish(July 25, 1870 – March 30, 1966) was an American painter andillustratoractive in the first half of the 20th century. He is known for his distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery. His career spanned fifty years and was wildly successful: theNational Museum of American Illustrationdeemed his paintingDaybreak(1922) to be the most successful art print of the 20th century.

Early life and education

Maxfield Parrish was born inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania,to painter and etcherStephen Parrishand Elizabeth Bancroft.His given name was Frederick Parrish, but he later adopted Maxfield, his paternal grandmother's maiden name, as his middle, then finally as his professional name.He was raised in aQuakersociety.As a child he began drawing for his own amusement, showed talent, and his parents encouraged him. Between 1884 and 1886, his parents took Parrish toEurope,where he touredEngland,Italy,andFrance,was exposed to architecture and the paintings by theold masters,and studied at the Paris school of Dr. Kornemann.

He attended theHaverford Schooland later studied architecture atHaverford Collegefor two years beginning in 1888.To further his education in art, from 1892 to 1895 he studied at thePennsylvania Academy of the Fine Artsunder artistsRobert VonnohandThomas Pollock Anshutz.After graduating from the program, Parrish went toAnnisquam, Massachusetts,where he and his father shared a painting studio. A year later, with his father's encouragement, he attended theDrexel Institute of Art, Science & Industrywhere he studied withHoward Pyle.

Career

"The Lantern Bearers" (1908), created forCollier'smagazine, shows Parrish's use of glazes and saturated color in an evocative night scene.Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Parrish entered into an artistic career that lasted for more than half a century, and which helped shape the Golden Age of illustration and Americanvisual arts.During his career, he produced almost 900 pieces of art including calendars, greeting cards, and magazine covers.Parrish's early works were mostly in black and white.

In 1895, his work was on the Easter edition ofHarper's Bazaar.He also did work for other magazines likeScribner's Magazine.One of his posters forThe Century Magazinewas published inLes Maîtres de l'Affiche.He also illustrated a children's book in 1897,Mother Goose in Prosewritten byL. Frank Baum.By 1900, Parrish was already a member of theSociety of American Artists.In 1903, he traveled to Europe again to visitItaly.

Parrish took many commissions for commercial art until the 1920s. Parrish's commercial art included many prestigious projects, among which wereEugene Field'sPoems of Childhoodin 1904,and such traditional works asArabian Nightsin 1909.Books illustrated by Parrish are featured inA Wonder Book and Tanglewood Talesin 1910,The Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyricsin 1911,andThe Knave of Heartsin 1925.

Parrish was earning over $100,000 per year by 1910, when homes could be bought for $2,000.

The Dinky Bird,an illustration fromPoems of ChildhoodbyEugene Field(1904), exemplifies Parrish's characteristic use ofandrogynousfigures.

In 1910 Parrish received a commission to create 18 panels to go into the Girls Dining Room of the Curtis Publishing Company building, then under construction at 6th and Walnut in Philadelphia. It would take him six years to finish the monumental project.In 1914, before the murals were completed, Curtis commissioned Parrish to design a 15-by-49-foot (4.6 m × 14.9 m) mural for the building lobby.Tiffany Studiosconstructed a favrile glass mosaic mural titledThe Dream Garden,which is now a part of Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts collection.

Parrish worked with popular magazines throughout the 1910s and 1920s, includingHearst'sandLife.He also created advertising for companies likeWanamaker's,Edison-Mazda Lamps,ColgateandOneida Cutlery.Parrish worked withCollier'sfrom 1904 to 1913.He received a contract to deal with them exclusively for six years. He also painted advertisements for D.M. Ferry Seed Company in 1916 and 1923, which helped him gain recognition in the eye of the public.His most well-known art work isDaybreakwhich was produced in 1923. It features female figures in a landscape scene. The painting also has undertones of Parrish blue.In the 1920s, however, Parrish turned away from illustration and concentrated on painting.

Cadmus Sowing the Dragon's Teeth(1908), created forCollier's

In his forties, Parrish began working on large murals instead of just focusing on children's books.His works of art often featuredandrogynousnudes infantasticalsettings. He made his living frompostersandcalendarsfeaturing his works.Beginning in 1904, Susan Lewin (1889-1978) posed for many works, and became Parrish's longtime assistant.From 1918 to 1934, Parrish worked on calendar illustrations forGeneral Electric.

In 1931, Parrish declared to theAssociated Press,"I'm done with girls on rocks", and opted instead to focus on landscapes. By 1935, Parrish exclusively painted landscapes.Though never as popular as his earlier works, he profited from them. He would often build scale models of the imaginary landscapes he wished to paint, using various lighting setups before deciding on a preferred view, which he would photograph as a basis for the painting (see for example,The Millpond). He lived inPlainfield, New Hampshire,near theCornish Art Colony,and painted until he was 91 years old. He was also an avidmachinist,and often referred to himself as "a mechanic who loved to paint".

Technique

Painting for 30 Aug 1923Lifeedition

Parrish's art is characterized by vibrantcolors;the colorParrish bluewas named after him. He achieved such luminous color throughglazing.This process involves applying layers of translucent paint and oil medium (glazes) over a base rendering.Parrish usually used a blue and white monochromaticunderpainting.

His paintings/illustrations were unique in that they depicted a highly idealized fantasy world that was accessible to the general public. Although you will rarely see a glimpse of that color in reality, he was and still is linked with a particularly bright shade of blue that coated the skies of his landscapes. And it was not an easy task for him to complete. He invented a time-consuming process that involved a cobalt blue base and white undercoating, which he then coated with a series of thin alternating coatings of oil and varnish. When exposed to ultraviolet light, the resins he employed, known as Damar, fluoresce a shade of yellow-green, giving the painted sky its distinctive turquoise tint.

Parrish used many other innovative techniques in his paintings. He would take pictures of models in black and white geometric prints and project the image onto his works. This technique allowed for his figures to be clothed in geometric patterns, while accurately representing distortion and draping. Parrish would also create his paintings by taking pictures, enlarging, or projecting objects. He would cut these images out and put them onto his canvas. He would later cover them with clear glaze. Parrish's technique gave his paintings a more three-dimensional feel.

The outer proportions and internal divisions of Parrish's compositions were carefully calculated in accordance with geometric principles such asroot rectanglesand thegolden ratio.In this Parrish was influenced byJay Hambidge's theory of Dynamic Symmetry.

Cultural influences

Princess Parizade Bringing Home the Singing TreefromArabian Nights(1906)

Parrish's works continue to influence pop culture. The cover of the 1985Bloom Countycartoon collectionPenguin Dreams and Stranger Thingscomprises elements ofDaybreak,The Garden of Allah,andThe Lute Players.The poster forThe Princess Bridewas inspired byDaybreak.In 2001, Parrish was featured in a United States Post Office commemorative stamp series honoring American illustrators, including Parrish.

The 1986 television commercial announcing Nestle's Alpine White chocolate bar, entitled "Sweet Dreams," staged live-action representations of Parrish'sEcstasy,Dinky Bird,andDaybreak.

TheElton JohnalbumCaribouhas a Parrish-inspired background.The Moody BluesalbumThe Presentuses a variation of the Parrish paintingDaybreakfor its cover. In 1984,Dali's Car,the British New Wave project ofPeter MurphyandMick Karn,usedDaybreakas the cover art of their only album,The Waking Hour.The Irish musicianEnyahas been inspired by the works of Parrish. The cover art of her 1995 albumThe Memory of Treesis based on his paintingThe Young King of the Black Isles.A number of her music videos include Parrish imagery, including "Caribbean Blue".

Daybreak,1922

In the 1995music video"You Are Not Alone",Michael Jacksonand his then wifeLisa Marie Presleyappear semi-nude in emulation ofDaybreak.The Italian singer-songwriterAngelo Branduardi's fourth albumLa pulce d'acquaof 1977 featured nine inlay full colour print reproductions of painter Mario Convertino's works; one of them is clearly inspired by Parrish'sStars.

The original painting ofDaybreaksold in 2006 for US$7.6 million.TheNational Museum of American Illustrationclaims the largest body of his work in any collection, with sixty-nine works by Parrish including the 1910 Curtis Publishing Company's 18 panel mural commission. Some of his works are located at theHood Museum of ArtinHanover, New Hampshire,and a few at theMetropolitan Museum of Artin New York. TheSan Diego Museum of Artorganized and toured a collection of his work in 2005.

The American painterNorman Rockwellreferred to Parrish as "my idol".

InAlan Moore's 32 run comic seriesPromethea,the cover of Issue #13 was noted by the artist on the cover as "after Parrish", imitating his style.

Personal life

Ecstasy(1929) was widely published on a calendar forGeneral Electric Mazdain 1930.

While studying at Drexel, Parrish met his future wife, Lydia Ambler Austin, who was a drawing teacher. The couple were married on June 1, 1895, and moved to Philadelphia. They would go on to have four children together.In 1898, Parrish moved toPlainfield, New Hampshire,with his family and built a home that was later nicknamed "The Oaks".The home and an adjacent studio were surrounded by beautiful landscapes that inspired Parrish's drawings.

Parrish suffered fromtuberculosisfor a time in 1900.While sick, he discovered how to mix oils and glazes to create vibrant colors.

From 1900 to 1902, Parrish painted inSaranac Lake, New York,andCastle Hot Springs, Arizona,to further recover his health.

Parrish's youngest child, Jean, posed forEcstasyjust before leaving for Smith College. Jean was the only child to follow her parents' profession.

Parrish developed arthritis. He accepted his last commission in the late 1950s. By 1960 his arthritis prevented him from painting.His last years were spent in a wheelchair. He died on March 30, 1966, inPlainfield, New Hampshire,at the age of 95.

Works

Book illustrator

• Baum, L. F. –Mother Goose in Prose,Way & Williams, 1897
• Read, O. –Bolanyo(cover), Way & Williams, 1897
• Butler, W. M. –Whist Reference Book(frontispiece), Yorston, 1898
• Grahame, K. –The Golden Age,Lane, 1900
• Irving, W. –Knickerbocker's History of New York,Russell, 1900
• Grahame, K. –Dream Days,Lane, 1902
• Carryl, G. W. –The Garden of Years(frontispiece), Putnam, 1904
• Field, E. –Poems of Childhood,Scribner & Sons, 1904
• Wharton, E. –Italian Villas and their Gardens,Century, 1904
• Smith, A. C. –The Turquoise Cap, and The Desert,Scribner & Sons, 1905
• Wiggin, K. D. –The Arabian Nights,Scribner & Sons, 1909
• Hawthorne, N. –A Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales,Duffield, 1910
• Scudder, H. –The Children's Book(cover), Houghton Mifflin, 1910
• Hawthorne, H. –Lure of the Garden,Century, 1911
• Palgrave, F. T. –The Golden Treasury,Duffield, 1911
• Saunders, L. –The Knave of Hearts,Scribner & Sons, 1925

Muralist

• "Old King Cole" –St. Regis Hotel,New York, 1906
• "Pied Piper" –Palace Hotel,San Francisco, 1909

Further reading

• Cutler, Laurence S.; Parrish, M.; & Cutler, J. G. (1995).Maxfield Parrish: A Retrospective.San Francisco: Pomegranate Artbooks.ISBN0-87654-599-1.
• Cutler, Laurence S.; Judy Goffman Cutler;National Museum of American Illustration(2004).Maxfield Parrish and the American Imagists.Edison, NJ: Wellfleet Press.ISBN978-0-7858-1817-5.OCLC57069888.
• Flacks, Erwin (2007).Maxfield Parrish Identification and Price Guide,4th ed. Portland, OR: Collectors Press.ISBN9781933112343.
• Ludwig, Coy (1973).Maxfield Parrish.New York: Watson Guptill.ISBN0-8230-3897-1.
• Smith, Alma Gilbert (2005).Maxfield Parrish: Master of Make-believe.London: Philip Wilson.ISBN9780856676017.
• Yount, Sylvia.Maxfield Parrish: 1870–1966.New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc, 1999.ISBN978-0-8109-4367-4.

External links

• Illustrators, Maxfield Parrish's glazing techniques
• The Papers of Maxfield Parrishat Dartmouth College Library
• Parrish Collection at The National Museum of American Illustration
• Works by Maxfield ParrishatProject Gutenberg
• Works by or about Maxfield ParrishatInternet Archive
• Illustrated text ofThe Arabian Nights
• Maxfield Parrish Art Gallery
• Children's Book Illustrators Gallery – Large Archive of Maxfield Parrish's First Editions illustrations
• Maxfield Parrish artwork can be viewed at American Art Archives web site
• The Arabian NightsFrom the Collections at the Library of Congress
• Finding aid author: Thomasina Morris (2011). "Maxfield Parrish research collection".Prepared for the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Provo, UT.