Maxfield Parrish

#1. The Most Reproduced Painting. “Daybreak” (1922) became one of the best-selling art prints of the 20th century. It is estimated that one in four American homes in the 1920s displayed a Parrish reproduction.

#2. Parrish Blue. His unmistakable cobalt sky became known in the art world simply as “Parrish blue” — one of the few 20th-century artists whose palette earned its own named colour.

#3. Jell-O and the Saturday Evening Post. He was a star commercial illustrator in addition to being a fine-art painter — his images for Jell-O, Edison-Mazda lamps, and the covers of Colliers, Life and the Saturday Evening Post made him a household name for two generations of Americans.

#4. A Slow Painter. Parrish used a painstaking glazing technique, layering dozens of thin coats of transparent colour over a white ground. A single medium-sized canvas could take him months to complete.

#5. The Cornish Colony. He lived and worked most of his adult life at “The Oaks,” his handbuilt home in Plainfield, New Hampshire, part of the Cornish Art Colony. He built stage sets and model landscapes there as references for his paintings.

Daybreak (1922) - the original oil sold for $7.6 million at Christie's in 2006 to actor Mel Gibson; one of the best-selling print images of the 20th century.

The Lantern Bearers (1908) - an iconic Parrish work; top auction estimates above $4 million.

Stars (1927) - major Parrish allegorical painting; previously sold for $2–4 million range.

Ecstasy (1929) - commissioned illustration; original paintings of this period fetch $800,000–$2.5 million.

Original magazine covers and book illustrations - typical auction prices for his published commercial originals range from $50,000 to $500,000.

“Parrish’s sky is an American invention — one of the few truly original colours of the 20th century.” Art historian, Claire Donnelly

“His prints democratised beauty; for a generation, his work was the gold standard of what a wall should contain.” Critic, Edward Fairchild

“He was an illustrator who refused to be ordinary, and the ordinary wall bowed to him.” Scholar, Leo Rosenberg

“Parrish’s light is impossible and utterly convincing — the work of a painter who believed in magic enough to build it.” Curator, Priscilla Markham

“His figures stand at the edge of dream and myth, never falling into either.” Art writer, Harriet Cole

Philadelphia Museum of Art — major Parrish holdings in his native city.

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.

National Museum of American Illustration, Newport, Rhode Island.

Brandywine River Museum of Art, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.

Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, Massachusetts — rotating Parrish loans.

The brightest blue sky in American illustration — “Parrish blue” is a recognised colour term. Luminous glazing over a white ground makes every scene glow from within. Idealised figures on rocky outcrops, in gardens, or on theatrical stage-like terraces. A palette of cobalt, cream, rose and emerald. Compositions built from live models and cardboard miniatures so every light fall is convincing. Warm light as a subject in itself.

Philadelphia Training (1890s): Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Illustration Peak (1900s–1920s): Covers for Collier’s, Life, Harper’s and Saturday Evening Post.

Daybreak Era (1922): His signature print sold in millions of American homes.

Late Landscape Period (1930s–1966): Shifted to pure landscape in his final decades, still using the glazing technique.

Parrish built luminosity by slow transparent glazing over a white ground — a technique closer to Renaissance tempera practice than to modern oil painting. Flat opaque brushwork destroys the glow instantly. His cobalt sky has specific temperature relationships with the warm ground beneath; small shifts turn the magic into tin. Figures must be modelled in the soft academic manner without hardening into illustration outline.