Silver Swan: maxfield parrish

Showing posts with label maxfield parrish. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The Dawn

The dawn is a wonderful time. The world is still and quiet, waiting for the new day to start. There are so many possibilities for what it might bring, but in the dawning one is simply content to sit and feel the peace and magic of a beauty that is thunderous in its silence.

Maxfield Parrish, Daybreak, 1922

Nelleke, Stil Leven, 2012

Maxfield Parrish, Morning, 1922

Friday, April 5, 2013

Florence Harrison

I recently discovered this enchanting illustrator from the Golden Age of illustration. Her name is Florence Harrison, and for over sixty years her identity was unknown. Female artists, as just about everyone knows, were overlooked and and under appreciated for quite a long time, but female illustrators were practically ignored for the simple fact that illustrators in general are considered a lower life form in the art world even today. So it isn't surprising that no one knew who she was. Even the names Arthur Rackham and Maxfield Parrish earn sneers from many of those who consider themselves fine artists or art critics.

But Florence Harrison's work is stellar. It's absolutely enchanting, and her line work and use of color are sensitive and sophisticated. She has ties to the Pre-Raphaelite movement as well, having illustrated a volume of Christina Rossetti's poems. Just take a look at some of these enchanting works, and then read more about her on http://www.florenceharrison.com/herlife.html.

Maiden Song, Florence Harrison

Rapunzel, Florence Harrison

A Birthday, Florence Harrison

Night Slid Down, Florence Harrison

Dreamland, Florence Harrison

Dream Love, Florence Harrison

Sunday, October 14, 2012

A Trip to Crystal Bridges - Parrish's Lantern Bearers

Last weekend I was lucky enough to make a trip to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. This incredibly museum houses some of the most famous American art you could ever hope to see, and it has so much of it I was nearly reeling from awe by the time we went through it all. Normally I see one or two good pieces in a museum and I'm ready to leave- it's just overload. But this museum had so many of my heroes in it -Whistler, Andrew Wyeth, John Singer Sargent- that I felt like a kid in a candy store, disovering one wonderful piece after another.

The crowning piece though- and the whole reason I made the trip- was Maxfield Parrish's The Lantern Bearers. No, not Durand's Kindred Spirits or Heade's Cattleya Orchid; it was The Lantern Bearers that I stood in front of for as long as I could, reveling in how the lanterns glow like they have real lights in them and soaking in the incredible "Parrish blue" of the sky, my favorite color in the world. Art snobs pointedly overlook Parrish as an American painter because of his status as an illustrator, but this painting is just as skillfully executed, just as brilliant in its use of color and light, as any other piece in the museum- and far surpasses several pieces that didn't deserve to be in that museum but are more highly regarded. Such is the way of the art world though, and it doesn't dim my enjoyment of this piece one bit. So take a look at the photos I captured of this exquisite piece and be amazed. I'll post up more art later.

Unfortunately, no photo can capture can capture the luminosity of this painting.

Detail of a foot.

Is it a lantern... or the moon?

The little cracks in the paint are lovely.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Autumn Dreaming

I am just about desperate for fall to get here. This summer in the Ozarks has been terribly dry and hot, and I am yearning for autumn storms and colors. There is nothing to compare with the snap in the air that comes with that time of year, and the exhilarating feeling of the wind rushing past, blowing one's hair about and tossing around leaves; it makes me feel as though I can fly if I only try hard enough.