Maxfield Parrish
The Doctrine of Divine Light

January 14 2018

Maxfield Parrish captures a light mood in his paintings that feels supernatural and very real and tangible at the same time. It is as if he’s able to paint a plane of existence we can all somehow recollect but very rarely perceive. This world of light can revive a forgotten time and make you drunk with delight.

Parrish was a pioneer of printing art for mass distribution and had tremendous commercial success with it. Daybreak, the first picture of the selection below for example, is still the most sold print in history. He was the George Lucas of his time as one may say.

I came across this wonderful description of painting in nature by Maxfield Parrish. He says that capturing a mood in nature is more important than what you are painting. And the mood consists of “those qualities that delight us in nature – the sense of freedom, pure air and light, the magic of distance, and the saturated beauty of color.”