Maxfield Parrish

One of the leading figures of American art, Maxfield Parrish achieved widespread acclaim for the vibrant and idealized neoclassical scenes he created for calendars, magazine covers, and other forms of commercial art that during the first half of the 20th Century. Through his work for such titles as Mother Goose in Prose, Harper’s Bazaar, LIFE, and Scribner’s Magazine, Parrish has had a considerable impact on the development of American illustration, helping establish its Golden Age, but also shaped contemporary visual culture as a whole; his painting Daybreak was the most popular art print of the 20th century. 

Parrish’s work is marked by its use of saturated color, which Parrish achieved through a glazing process he developed while recovering from tuberculosis, and for its lifelike recreations of three-dimensional space, created using an innovative photographic technique to accurately render texture and his signature “Parrish blue.” The impact of Parrish’s work on pop culture has proven long-lasting, influencing artists across disciplines from Norman Rockwell to Elton John and Michael Jackson.