Maxfield Parrish

by Maxfield Parrish (Illustrator), Coy Ludwig (Editor)

Maxfield Parrish was one of the most successful and original American painters and illustrators of the early twentieth century - a period that has since become known as the Golden Age of Illustration. Never before or since has an entire generation of Americans grown up surrounded by cans of cleanser, calendars, and boxes of chocolate adorned with such memorable Parrish paintings as Daybreak and Garden of Allah. In such works as these, the artist created a mythical kingdome where "impossibilities were treated as realities." This magic land was complete with genies, gnomes, mythical heroes, and classical nymphs reclining by shimmering lakes that reflected gorgeous, cloud-encircled castles; this world captured the imagination of virtually the entire American public. F. Scott Fitzgerald, for example, described the reflection in a restaurant window as being the color of "Maxfield Parrish moonlight."For sixty-five years Parrish worked in widely varied fields - book illustration, magazine illustration, posters and advertisements, paintings and murals - rendering the realm of the imagination with sharp-focus realism. This illuminating book devotes a detailed, lavishly illustrated chapter to each one of these fields. For example, Parrish's most famous book illustrations include selections from Mother Goose in Prose, The Arabian Nights, and The Knave of Hearts. Also included are his famous magazine covers - from Life, Collier's, Harper's Weekly, etc. - as well as magazine illustrations, posters, advertisements and all of the landscapes that Parrish painted for Brown and Bigelow, who reproduced them as calendars every year from 1936 to 1963.

One of the highlights of the book is the chapter on Parrish's technique, examining in depth his materials, favorite methods, and unique ways of painting. In addition, this chapter features a lengthy excerpt from an unpublished manuscript by Maxfield Parrish, Jr., which explains, step-by-step, his father's glazing techniqueand his use of photography in his work.

Yet, for all his fame, in time Maxfield Parrish's work vanished from the sight and memory of all but a few. Only in the last decade has interest in his work revived. Now, with the publication of Coy Ludwig's book - the first comprehensive study of Parrish's life and work - that interest can, at last, be satisfied. Containing sixty-four full color plates and over one-hundred black and white illustrations, this definitive study also includes numerous revealing excerpts from Parrish's unpublished correspondence with his friends, family and clients.

223 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1973

About the author

Maxfield Parrish was an American painter and illustrator active 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: his painting Daybreak is the most popular art print of the 20th century.