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Home > Artists > Maxfield Parrish

Maxfield Parrish

Born: July 25, 1870 | Died: March 30, 1966

Maxfield Parrish

Biography

Maxfield Parrish was certainly one of our most prominent illustrators and hardly a home in America existed that didn’t have a Maxfield Parrish print. I’m an illustrator. Maxfield Parrish was a painter-illustrator. He was in the Golden Age of Illustration. When I was in art school I admired him. He was one of my gods.

                                        - Norman Rockwell

One of the most popular artists during the Golden Age of Illustration, Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966) illustrated poetic narratives set in other-worldly landscapes of ancient gnarled trees, tumbling waterfalls, and azure skies, painted with precision and dreamlike clarity. His incredible popularity was built on the expansion of the print market and the distribution of his imagery for calendars and books of poetry and tales of the fantastic. It is estimated that in the 1920s, a quarter of all American households displayed a Parrish print on their walls. 

For a short time Maxfield Parrish was a student of influential teacher Howard Pyle, who also instructed illustrators N.C. Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, Harvey Dunn, and many others, though Parrish had already undergone a thorough education at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art with Thomas Anshutz and Robert Vonnoh. The solid training both of these teachers had received in Paris ateliers was passed on to Parrish who added his own unique flavor to the make-believe world he would invent in paint. Parrish's unique paintings were commissioned for book illustrations, magazine story illustrations, building murals, calendars, and commercial advertisements for companies like Colgate, General Electric, and Edison Mazda Lamps. By utliizing bold colors to illustrate fantasy images, Parrish created paintings of great and lasting beauty.

Illustrations by Maxfield Parrish

Jason and His TeacherPublic Domainhttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/jason-and-his-teacher
Poet’s DreamPublic Domainhttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/poets-dream
The Little PeachPublic Domainhttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/the-little-peach
The Dinky BirdPublic Domainhttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/the-dinky-bird
Cover of “The Arabian Nights”Public Domainhttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/cover-of-the-arabian-nights
Garden of AllahPublic Domainhttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/garden-of-allah

Additional Resources

  • “The Illustrator in America, 1860-2000,” by Walt Reed
  • Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators

Bibliography

Cutler, Laurence S. and Judy Goffman Cutler. Maxfield Parrish. New York: Crescent Books, 1993.

Ludwig, Coy L. Maxfield Parrish. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1973.

Menges, Jeff A. Worlds of Enchantment: The Art of Maxfield Parrish. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2010.

Yount, Sylvia. Maxfield Parrish, 1870-1966. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1999.

Genres
  • Advertising/Promotion
  • Corporate
  • Product
  • Book
  • Children’s
  • Picture
  • Cover
  • Illustration
  • Decorative & Applied Illustration
  • Murals
  • Fantasy
  • Mystical/Mythical
  • Romance
Global Perspectives
  • North America
RELATED ARTISTS
  • Tony DiTerlizzi Tony DiTerlizzi
  • Harvey Dunn Harvey Dunn
  • Elizabeth Shippen Green Elizabeth Shippen Green
  • James Gurney James Gurney
  • Jay Hambidge Jay Hambidge
  • Gregory Manchess Gregory Manchess
  • Winsor McCay Winsor McCay
  • Steven James Petruccio Steven James Petruccio
  • Howard Pyle Howard Pyle
  • Norman Rockwell Norman Rockwell
  • Ruth Sanderson Ruth Sanderson
  • Frank Schoonover Frank Schoonover
  • Andy Warhol Andy Warhol
  • N.C. Wyeth N.C. Wyeth
Related Time Periods
  • Late 19th Century Late 19th Century
  • The Decade 1900-1910 The Decade 1900-1910
  • The Decade 1910-1920 The Decade 1910-1920
  • The Decade 1920-1930 The Decade 1920-1930
  • The Decade 1930-1940 The Decade 1930-1940
  • The Decade 1940-1950 The Decade 1940-1950
  • The Decade 1950-1960 The Decade 1950-1960
  • The Decade 1960-1970 The Decade 1960-1970

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"The great band of illustrators have shown us to ourselves and I am proud to be among their company."
- Norman Rockwell

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