This affordable, over-sized paperback provides an unusual glimpse into artist Maxfield Parrish's life--particularly his relationship with model Sue Lewin. Black-and-white photos and full-color plates show how Lewin's simple poses became fully realized fantasies under the brush of the master. The text explores not only the artworks that emerged from the relationship, but also the scandal that ensured.

Illustrations and paintings by Maxfield Parrish are paired with Mother Goose rhymes, tales from the Arabian Nights, and works by the Brothers Grimm, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Robert Browning, Charles Perrault, and Eugene Field.

Maxfield Parrish was one of the most popular American artists of the 20th century. His engaging covers for Scribners and Life, murals such as Old King Cole and the Pied Piper, and posters, calendars, and paintings have delighted viewers for over 100 years. This is the first critical examination of Parrish's place in the history of American art and culture.

Maxfield Parrish enjoyed tremendous popularity throughout the early decades of the twentieth century. Bruce Watson, writing in Smithsonian magazine, deemed Parrish the "comman man's Rembrandt." It's said that during the Depression, a Parrish illustration was displayed on the walls of one out of every four American homes. The artist's romantic, richly colored images of winsome maidens and faraway places continue to appeal to modern audiences. Selected from hundreds of the artist's images for books, magazines, and calendars, this original collection spotlights Parrish's work from 1897 through the 1920s. Illustrations include art from publications such as Century Magazine, Collier's, and Scribner's. Numerous advertisements include the famed Edison-Mazda Lamp series, along with ads for Jell-O, Ferry's Seeds, and Swift's Premium Ham. A wide selection of book illustrations comprises scenes from The Arabian Nights, Eugene Field's Poems of Childhood, Louise Saunders' The Knave of Hearts, Nathaniel Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales, and other treasured works

The classic reference for this noted artist's life and works. Maxfield Parrish produced imaginative and beautiful book illustrations, magazine covers and landscapes calendars in the early 20th century which have become famous. His unique style of painting is explained step-by-step and is shown in photographs. His glazing technique and the use of photography in his work is examined. A newly revised independent value guide for the pictures is included.

Publisher Description

A filmmaker, visionary, and entrepreneur, George Lucas has not only changed the way we experience film and filmmaking, but also revolutionized film industry practices and standards. George Lucas, on an economic, aesthetic, and cultural level, has contributed more than any other individual to the shaping of the New Hollywood and is one of the most important figures in film history. His contribution to the film industry and our culture can be defined as the "Lucas Effect." Until now Lucas' work has been studied categorically. That is, popular books have been written that focus specifically on his life, his marketing skills, his films, his fans, or his various business accomplishments and practices. This is the first book to weave these threads together into a cohesive, rigorous study that illustrates the far reaching impact and importance of his creative genius. This book is important not only for film academics, students of film criticism and theory, popular culture scholars, and film devotees, but also for industry power brokers, Lucas fans and anyone who is interested in the work, life, and legacy of one of film's most important visionaries, George Lucas.