Artist

Maxfield Parrish

born Philadelphia, PA 1870-died Plainfield, NH 1966
Also known as
  • Maxfield Frederick Parrish
Born
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Died
Plainfield, New Hampshire, United States
Active in
  • Windsor, Vermont, United States
Nationalities
  • American
Biography

Maxfield Parrish was educated at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in his native city of Philadelphia. He also studied with the renowned illustrator Howard Pyle, who was an important influence on his work. Trained as both a painter and an illustrator, Parrish became one of the East Coast's preeminent poster designers in the 1890s. In 1896 his design was awarded first place from a pool of 525 entries in the competition for the Pope Bicycle poster, and from then on, he was one of America's most frequently reproduced and prolific artists. Like so many of his contemporaries, Parrish designed posters for many book publishers. He was also successful in executing commercial commissions for such products as Colgate soap.

Therese Thau Heyman Posters American Style (New York and Washington, D.C.: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., in association with the National Museum of American Art, 1998)

Exhibitions

An artwork image of a woman
Sargent, Whistler, and Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of Murano 
October 8, 2021–May 8, 2022
Smithsonian American Art Museum
This exhibition brings to life the Venetian glass revival of the nineteenth century on the famed island of Murano and the artistic experimentation the city inspired for artists such as John Singer Sargent and James McNeill Whistler.