|
He went on to pursue a career that was to last for many decades and effectively shape the Golden Age of
Illustration, and the future of American visual art in general. Launched by a commission to illustrate Kenneth Grahame’s
The Walls Were as of Jasper in 1897, his repertoire was to include many prestigious projects such as Eugene Field’s
Poems of Childhood (1904) and the traditional Arabian Nights (1909).
|
|
Parrish was famous for the dazzlingly luminous colors that marked much of his artwork; the shade “Parrish
blue” was coined in acknowledgement. He achieved this result by means of a special technique involving several coats
of oil and varnish applied to his paintings. It is impossible to categorize Parrish’s work, since he was part of no
traditional movement or school, and developed a truly original style.
|
|
|
Maxfield Parrish was the most popular American artist from the turn of the century until Norman Rockwell
succeeded him in the 1940’s. Of Parrish, Mr. Rockwell said, “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.”
|
|
