PARRISH, MAXFIELD

born July 25, 1870, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S. died March 10, 1966, Plainfield, N.H. in full Frederick Maxfield Parrish American illustrator and painter who was perhaps the most popular commercial artist in the United States in the first half of the 20th century. The son of an artist, Parrish was educated at Haverford College, Pa., and studied art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (l89194) and the Drexel Institute of Art in Philadelphia. He did many posters, magazine covers, and book and advertising illustrations in the following years, and he also painted murals. By the 1920s he was the highest-paid commercial artist in the nation. His popularity began to decline in the late 1930s, but his illustrations never lost favour with some segments of the American public, and there was a renewed appreciation of his work in the 1960s and '70s. Parrish is best known for his depictions of fantasy landscapes populated by attractive young women. He used meticulously defined outlines and intricately detailed natural backgrounds, and his unusual colours give his pictures a dreamlike and idyllic atmosphere.