Maxfield Parrish: 1870-1966 [Hardcover]

Sylvia Yount (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1999

Maxfield Parrish was one of the most popular American artists of the 20th century. His engaging covers for Scribners and Life, murals such as Old King Cole and the Pied Piper, and posters, calendars, and paintings have delighted viewers for over 100 years. This is the first critical examination of Parrish's place in the history of American art and culture.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Maxfield Parrish, the prodigiously gifted, turn-of-the-20th-century illustrator famous for his limpid blue landscapes and dreamy pubescent models draped in gossamer threads, has rolled in and out of artistic favor for nearly a century. In 1964, critic Lawrence Alloway wrote about Parrish's odd place in the history of American art: "He was the most popular artist the country ever produced, with prints in a quarter of all American homes at one time; and yet his kitschy compositions were considered risible among the educated art elite." Parrish himself had a sophisticated sense of his own place in the pantheon: "There are countless artists whose shoes I am not worthy to polish whose prints would not pay the printer," he wrote. "The question of judgement is a puzzling one." But new movements of the 1960s, including photo-realism and pop art, led to critical reappraisal of Parrish's oeuvre, and a few of the later new image painters, such as Joan Nelson, found sweet inspiration in his atmospheric skies and evocative, shadowy forests.

Parrish is finally receiving his due with this truly intelligent, fascinating book. It is the catalog to a traveling exhibition organized by the author, Sylvia Yount, the curator of collections at the Museum of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia--Parrish's alma mater and hometown, respectively. With Mark F. Bockrather, a conservator who elucidates Parrish's formidable craftsmanship, Yount has done a fine job of resurrecting Parrish yet again. She offers a sensitive analysis of the place his pastoral, idyllic, storybook innocence played in a world that Freud, the Great War, the Depression, and yet another world war inexorably tore to shreds. --Peggy Moorman

From Library Journal

Although Parish was immensely popular early in the century, he was dismissed by mid-century critics and has enjoyed renewed interest only in the past two decades. His paintings are easily recognized by the dreamy landscapes, "Parish-blue" skies, damsels in flowing robes, and eccentric characters in tights and checks. Now, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts and the American Federation of Arts are sponsoring an exhibit of Parish's work that will tour through August 2000. The text of this companion work differs from others by addressing in more critical detail the artist's techniques and inspiration. Complementing the reproductions is a long essay by Yount, curator of collections at the Pennsylvania Academy; other essays discuss Parish's popularity and methods. The 132 illustrations include some works reproduced for the first time. This is a worthy shelf-mate of another exhibition catalog, Laurence Cutler's Maxfield Parish: A Retrospective (LJ 7/96). Recommended for all collections.AJoseph C. Hewgley, Nashville P.L.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Harry N Abrams; First edition (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810943670
• ISBN-13: 978-0810943674
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,400,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good mid- price Parrish book, December 14, 1999

By 

achmal (Kuala Lumpur) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maxfield Parrish: 1870-1966 (Hardcover)

This is a good entry point into the world of Maxfield Parrish for the budget conscious. It provides the usual essay on the artist's life. What I found really useful was a description of his techniques in the fourth section.It includes infrared and microscopic cross section analysis of his canvasses. If you are looking for an even more economical book on Parrish, try Maxfield Parrish by Laurence and Judy Cutler by Gramercy books also published in 1999. It always intrigues me that published reproductions of his works always 'color' differently from book to book.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful work and nicely presented, April 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Maxfield Parrish: 1870-1966 (Hardcover)

For a century, illustrators have been looked down upon by "fine artists." Finally, Maxfield Parrish, a truely FINE artist, gets his day. He's represented not as an illustrator, but as an artist. Having seen the originals 20 minutes prior to buying the book, I can say with confidence that the reproductions are the truest I have ever seen. A great in the art world (Daybreak was estimated to be in 25% of all American homes), the book is the best look back at an American great.