Maxfield Parrish

American painter and illustrator Maxfield Parrish was one of the most successful artists of the first half of the 20^th century.  Born Frederick Parrish to a painter and etcher, he adopted Maxfield, his grandmother’s maiden name, to be his professional name.  Parrish briefly studied architecture before studying art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and later, at the Drexel Institute of Art, Science & Industry.  He took on many commissions for book and magazine illustrations, producing nearly 900 works of art, including posters, paintings, calendars and greeting cards.  In the 1920s he concentrated on painting, later on landscapes specifically, and his work Daybreak, created in 1922, is considered one of the most popular and influencial art prints of the 1900s. Parrish died at the age of 95 in 1966, after years of crippling arthritis took away his ability to paint.  He will be remembered for his romanticized imagery of neo-classical subjects with deep colors that had a luminous effect and a three-dimensional feel.