Today we bring you an original painting that was created with reproduction in mind. Maxfield Parrish was an American artist working at the end of the 19th century and well into the 20th century. He studied in Paris and Philadelphia and found his niche early on in commercial art, creating magazine covers and illustrating children’s books. He quickly saw the financial benefits to crafting vibrant illustrations that could be reproduced in great quantities for public consumption. Prints of his works graced many a home in the 1910s and 1920s. He used saturated colors, glazing, neoclassical and romantic images, and an underpinning of glorious, dreamy settings.
If you are familiar with the reproductions, seeing the original is a revelation! The Lantern Bearers is much larger in its original state than what was mass-produced. The impact of the colors and composition is dazzling. This is a fun painting with six figures in clown costumes hanging ten beautifully lit lanterns among tree branches and a stepped esplanade. But wait, is it ten lanterns or only nine? Could one of them be the moon that bathes the setting in a playful glow?
- Brad
The Lantern Bearers
Oil on canvas mounted on board • 101.6 × 81.3 cm
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Maxfield Parrish