Norman Rockwell Museum Presents Maxfield Parrish: Machinist, Artisan, Artist
Stockbridge, MA, July 11, 2018 – Norman Rockwell Museum will present a lecture on the working methods of artist Maxfield Parrish on Thursday, July 19, starting at 5:30 p.m. Ann Lawless, Executive Director of the American Precision Museum, will reflect on the many interesting facets of Parrish’s career. The event is free for Museum members or included with Museum admission.
Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966) was one of the most recognized working artists in America in the 1920s. For all of his working life, Parrish, who lived and worked in Plainfield, New Hampshire, maintained a fully equipped machine shop on the lower level of his studio. The casual viewer may think that the enchanting, nostalgic appeal of his art sprang full-blown from his imagination, however his work belies a strong connection between artistic fantasy and technical reality. Parrish’s unique paintings were commissioned for book illustrations, magazine story illustrations, building murals, calendars, and commercial advertisements for companies like Colgate, General Electric, and Edison Mazda Lamps. By utilizing bold colors to illustrate fantasy images, Parrish created paintings of great and lasting beauty.
Thursday Evening Drop-In Programs:
Thursdays, July & August, 5 to 7 p.m.
Parents and caregivers can enjoy our Thursday evening programs while their children are engaged in creative art and gallery activities inspired by the works on view. $7 for children, $5 for members.
Keepers of the Flame: Parrish, Wyeth, Rockwell, and the Narrative Tradition
On view June 9 through October 28, 2018
This summer, the Norman Rockwell Museum presents the first comprehensive exhibition to look at the work of master illustrators Maxfield Parrish, N.C. Wyeth, and Norman Rockwell in relation to the history of Western art. With more than 60 works by 25 American and European painters, along with more than 300 digital representations of some 50 other artists, Keepers of the Flame: Parrish, Wyeth, Rockwell, and the Narrative Tradition will reveal the lineage connecting American illustration to some 500 years of European painting through the long line of teachers who have passed along their wisdom, knowledge, and techniques to generations of creators.
Special 15 minute gallery tours of Keepers of the Flame are held daily at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., and are free with Museum admission.