Daybreak
Title: Daybreak, 1922
Artist: Maxfield Parrish (American 1870-1966)
Medium: Oil on Board
© 2006 National Museum of American Illustration.
Photos courtesy of the Archives of American Illustrators Gallery, NYC.
Licensed by ASaP Worldwide, Newport, RI.
Image Courtesy: National Museum of American Illustration
Maxfield Parrish
National Museum of American Illustration
July 12 - August 25, 2006
A style not seen before or since is one way to describe the creative works of Maxfield Parrish. He doesn't really belong to any specific artistic movement and yet
his works are legendary.
His first commercial illustration was for L. Frank Baum's 1897 book Mother Goose in Prose.
Maxfield Parrish went on to illustrate other books and received magazine commissions. He
then explored painting for itself creating one of the most famous American works Daybreak. Recently sold at auction for over 7 million dollars the owner has
loaned it, briefly, to the National Museum of American Illustration where it is on display.
Daybreak was painted in 1922 and Parrish himself called it 'the great painting'. It was the most successful art print of the 20th century.
It has theatrical overtones in the background.
Maxfield Parrish loved the theater and created numerous stage sets
such as for a New York based performance of The Tempest. His own daughter, Jean,
posed as one of the models for Daybreak.
“The recent results of America illustrators at auctions this spring has
confirmed their importance in American art. Works by Maxfield Parrish and Norman
Rockwell set new records at auction, indicating the current level of respect
and appreciation of these artists, and this genre, today,” explains
the Museum’s Director and Co-Founder, Judy Goffman Cutler.
Cutler adds, “Although the loan of Daybreak was arranged with little advance notice, we are
thrilled beyond belief to offer to the public the only opportunity to view
this work. Daybreak has been privately held since 1922 and only rarely
exhibited to the public in the last 80 years. In conjunction with Daybreak, we
have arranged the loan of other significant works by Parrish: My Duty Towards My Neighbor / My Duty Towards God; Dream Garden
and Presentation Piece for the Florentine Fete 'A Call to Joy.”
Don't miss the opportunity to view an important American masterpiece: Maxfield Parrish's Daybreak.
Daybreak: Maxfield Parrish
National Museum of American Illustration:
July 12 - August 25, 2006
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