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A Hill Prayer December 1899
Mural
Maxfield Parrish was born on July 25, 1870 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Stephen and Elizabeth Parrish. His parents named him Frederick, but he later adopted his maternal grandmother's maiden name as his Christian name. At the time of his birth he lived at 324 North Tenth Street in Philadelphia.
Aquamarine
In 1884, he traveled in Europe with his parents and studied at Dr. Kornemanns's school in Paris. He contracted typhoid in Honfleur, June 1885. They returned to the United States in 1886.
The Garden of Allah
In 1888, Maxfield Parrish became a student at Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania. He graduated in 1892 and was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma.
Aircastles 1904
The Dinky Bird
Deep Snow
In the summers of 1892 and 1893 he painted at the seaside in Annisquam, Massachusetts in a studio he shared with his father.
In 1892, Maxfeild Parrish became a student at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
Arithmetic
School Days (Alphabet)
In November of 1893, his painting "Moonrise" was exhibited at the Philadelphia Art Club. It was his first oil painting to be exhibited.
Glen
Old Oak Glen
In 1900, Parrish contracted tuberculosis, and then suffered a nervous breakdown. Around that time, he switched from illustrations to oil painting.
Golden Hours
His oil paintings became very popular, with their brilliant colors and magical luminosity, until well into the 1940s.
To achieve these magical effects, he would apply numerous layers of thin, transparent oil, alternating with varnish over stretched paper, a painstaking process that achieved both high luminosity and extraordinary detail.
Harvest
The tuberculosis hung on and Parrish went to Arizona to convalesce in the dry heat there. While in Arizona, he was commissioned to do a series of landscapes. He began painting and traveling on commission and his career took off.
Arizona
View in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado
Parrish worked at his home in Cornish, New Hampshire, called The Oaks. The Oaks was a popular destination for guests during the summers but in the frozen New Hampshire winters, Parrish dedicated himself to his painting.
Lullbrook Farm
Mountain Farm
Peaceful Night
In 1905, Parrish's met Susan Lewin, a 16-year old girl hired as a nanny for his son Dillwyn. Her image appears often in paintings from this time through the 1920s.
Her Window
Parfum
Pandora
October
Over time, Susan became Parrish's assistant, model for his paintings, and eventually his lover.
Moonlight
His wife, Lydia, and Maxfield grew increasingly estranged and she left him in 1911. Susan stayed with Maxfield for another 50 years.
Pan by a Stream
Old King Cole
He was particularly drawn to such contemporary English artists as the Pre-Raphaelites, Rossetti, and Lord Leighton. Parrish took an immediate interest in Leighton's art, his lifestyle, and these shaped Parrish's artistic vision, and most certainly contributed to the creation of his curious blend of naturalism, fantasy and romanticism.
The Reluctant Dragon 1901
Lady Violetta and the Knave
Puss In Boots 1913
Maxfield Parrish so dominated the images America loved that in the 1920's one out of four homes had his world of make-believe hanging on their walls.
Land Of Make Believe
In a survey taken in 1925, van Gogh, Cezanne and Parrish were thought to be the three greatest artists of all time. Consequently, Maxfield Parrish was the single most popular American artist of the early decades of the 20th century.
Egypt
Wife: Lydia Austin (ethnologist, m. Jun-1895, d. 1953) Son: John Dillwyn Parrish (b. 1904) Son: Maxfield Parrish, Jr, (b. 1906) Son: Stephen (b. 1909) Daughter: Jean (b. 1911)
The colors appearing in Parrish's works were so bold that even today cobalt blue is still referred to as "Parrish blue."
The Mill Pond
Christmas Eve
Christmas Morn
In successive years Maxfield Parrish garnered major commissions for many national magazines and books, including a yearly calendar contract with Edison Mazda (General Electric).
Primitive
Venetian Lamplighter 1922
The Lamp Seller of Bagdad
Spirit of the Night
Riverbank
His success attracted a group of fellow artists and also admirers of his estate, called "The Oaks," near Cornish, at Plainfield, New Hampshire. He personally designed and built much of the building complex by himself with the help of a local carpenter. By the 1900's there were many artists and intellectuals in full-time residence at Cornish. The area had become an artist colony in its own right and even attracted President Woodrow Wilson to reside there during the summers.
Manager
In the years from 1904 to 1935 Parrish was never at a loss for work. His fame grew and his commissions soared up to $2,000 per illustration. This was a time when illustrators were celebrities.
The Idiot
Man In An Apple
In 1922 Parrish completed a painting that was a pinnacle for him in many ways. This painting entitled 'Daybreak' features his daughter Jean, an artist in her own right, and Kitty Owen, the daughter of William Jennings Bryan. It was laid out with dynamic symmetry, embodied classical elements, and featured a mountainous "Parrishscape" in its background; in short, 'Daybreak' was quintessential Parrish. The ensuing art print of this painting is thought to be the most widely sold art print in history.
Daybreak 1922
From 1931 onwards Parrish painted landscapes for a calendar series as well as for greeting cards and playing cards.
Shufflin
In 1960 Parrish stopped painting altogether after Susan Lewin, his model and companion of 55 years, married at the age of 70. Maxfield Parrish quietly passed away at the age of 95 at "The Oaks" on March 10, 1966. He had lived to see his work continually recognized and revered by successive generations throughout the world.
Sheltering Oaks
Dreaming, 1928 There was originally a nude woman seated by a large tree. After publication, Parrish decided to remove the girl and change various elements. He never completed the job. This painting clearly demonstrates his technique.