Maxfield Parrish

Original Illustration for Red Cross Advertisement

1918

Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Each Upper Panel, Signed 'Maxfield Parrish/Windsor./Vermont.' (On the Reverse); Each Lower Panel, Signed 'Maxfield Parrish' (Lower Right) Each 1 of a...

Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed Sight Size 20.13" x 16.38", Framed 26.00" x 23.00" Maxfield Parrish’s popularity as an illustrator began with his early work for magazine publishers. An Easter 1895 cover for Harper’s Bazaar, one of the leading publications of the day, was followed by a successful foray into book illustration beginning in 1897 when Parrish completed illustrations for Frank Baum’s Mother Goose in Prose. His unique style and vivid imagination were well suited to illustrating children’s literature and resulted in numerous commissions. The List of Characters is one of 26 paintings, which appeared as an illustration in Louise Saunders' book, The Knave of Hearts. Lawrence S. Cutler and Judy Goffman Cutler write, “The last book Parrish illustrated, The Knave of Hearts (1924), was his masterpiece. When Parrish discovered this children’s play, he proposed an illustrated edition to Scribner’s, to which the publisher enthusiastically agreed …It was written by Louise Saunders, who was the wife of Maxwell Evarts Perkins of Scribner’s, an important editor in the 20th century and discoverer of authors Thomas Wolfe, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and others. The couple were summer residents at Cornish and close friends of the Parrishes” (Maxfield Parrish and the American Imagists, Edison, New Jersey, 2004, p. 172). According to Coy Ludwig, “The artist’s enthusiasm was shared by the publisher, who requested sketches or more precise information upon which to base a cost analysis, as final approval could not be given until the costs were estimated. Parrish prepared an elaborate dummy or mock-up of the proposed publication, complete with watercolor sketches of the illustrations, and sent it to the publisher early in 1921 …The twenty-six paintings for The Knave of Heartswere executed within three years, and the book, a sumptuous production, was published on October 2, 1925… The volume, selling for ten dollars, was packaged in a telescoping box...

This image - created as an advertisement for the magazine "The Century" -  is an original lithograph by Maxfield Parrish printed in 1897 measuring 15 ¾ x 11 3/8 in (40 x 29 cm), unfr...

Parrish, Maxfield. THE KNAVE OF HEARTS. 1925. 14 full page and many smaller color plates. A Fine copy of Parrish's most elaborate book. A highlight among American children's books, b...