Maxfield Parrish

by Laurence S. Cutler, Judy A.G. Cutler

Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966) has long been considered one of the greatest American illustrators of the 20th century and lived and worked throughout his career in Cornish Hills, New Hampshire. In early 1920's when his works Garden of Allah and Daybreak were reproduced as art prints, he quickly became one of the best known artists in America. His unmistakable paintings—characterized by 'Parrish Blue' water and skies, luminescent rocks and hills, and exquisite young women draped in flowing, classically inspired garments—are infused with a romantic Eden-like quality so entrancing that today's reproductions elicit the same infectious enthusiasm as when the prints first appeared.
In the 1920's, one out of four American homes had his world of make-believe hanging on their walls. A survey taken in 1925 in America showed that Van Gogh, Cézanne and Parrish were thought to be the three greatest artists of all time and Parrish's art images on posters, calendars, magazine covers, and book illustrations have made his name a household word thereafter.
Today, Parrish's art works are in the collections of many museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard, and his work is once again experiencing an enthusiastic revival. Parrish's painting Daybreak , one of the most reproduced art images in history, recently sold for $4.3 million, setting a record price for an illustration and Parrish art prints rank among the most popular in the world and are distributed in 42 countries. The Image Exchange on America Online reported in January, 1997 that as many as 4,800 people accessed the Maxfield Parrish exhibition on the Internet in a single day.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

80 pages, Hardcover

First published August 23, 1993

Reviews

[Ambrose Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up seeing Parrish’s art work on calendars and framed art work on my grandparents walls. My mother kept a scrap book that included a lot of the artist’s pictures. He’s always been one of my favorites.

[Luke VanHouten · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plates in this monograph are often too dominated by orange colors, and many of the skies lack their original detail. That being said, the saturation of reproductions of Parrish's works have long varied given his prolific print market. Each plate is very large in this book, which contains sufficient additional information on the works. I can't complain too much because my copy was cheap.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

A conglomeration of names, dates and facts. Not a terribly enjoyable read. I wanted very much to like it.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huge, gorgeous collection of probably my favorite 20th Century artists.

[Judith the Book Gobbler · Rating 5 out of 5]

My most adored painter. E erything I read and each painting I view delights me and spawns so very many ideas.

[Kione · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some people may not appreciate Maxfield's work feeling that his work has over saturated the commercial/capitalist world.
His work can found in poster and frame shops around the world, or as post cards for everyone to purchase. His images have been subtly as well as blatantly used or copied for commercials and movies. And if you look closely, you will be able to find his influence in the art work of many many artist...whether they'll admit it or not.
2 things cannot be denied about the art work of Maxfield Parrish:
1) It is still beautiful.
2) It still touches people.

...it has for me...still.

[Lora · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be five stars except it is too thin a book. It is a tall book, and has great spreads of art inside, so I forgive it. It is a good examination of Parrish with useful text and good picture spreads.

[Ellen Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The text made him sound like the Thomas Kincaide of 100 years ago. Not the best representation of works either.

[Mark Lacy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not enough paintings, and too much biography. Not enough about his techniques or who influenced him.

[Lisa Sigmon]

I was fascinated with this Artist, and it was interesting to see what kind of a man he was. It changed my mind about him for the negative.