“Here are some fun murals
by one of my favorite artists and muralists,
Maxfield Parrish!
I have received so much joy from studying Parrish’s work,
and I have learned a great deal from his paintings and illustrations, and his compositions!
I especially enjoy his light-heartedness
and the uplifting beauty of his color” -RQ
by one of my favorite artists and muralists,
Maxfield Parrish!
I have received so much joy from studying Parrish’s work,
and I have learned a great deal from his paintings and illustrations, and his compositions!
I especially enjoy his light-heartedness
and the uplifting beauty of his color” -RQ
from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxfield_Parrish
Maxfield Parrish (July 25, 1870 – March 30, 1966)
was an American painter and illustrator active in the first half of the 20th century. He is known for his distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery. His career spanned fifty years and was wildly successful: the National Museum of American Illustration deemed his painting Daybreak (1922) to be the most successful art print of the 20th century.[1]
Maxfield Parrish (July 25, 1870 – March 30, 1966)
was an American painter and illustrator active in the first half of the 20th century. He is known for his distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery. His career spanned fifty years and was wildly successful: the National Museum of American Illustration deemed his painting Daybreak (1922) to be the most successful art print of the 20th century.[1]
Maxfield Parrish was approached in 1906 by hotelier John Jacob Astor
(who was later struck down in the sinking of the Titanic) to create a mural to go above the bar at his hotel, The Knickerbocker, on 42nd Street. Though Parrish was a non-drinking Quaker. He relented when Astor offered him $5,000 (the equivalent of $130,000 today) for the work, a small fortune at the time.
Parrish crafted a painting centered on the children’s rhyme about Old King Cole, with Astor painted atop the throne.
Legend has it that Parrish cheekily painted Astor’s King Cole while passing some royal gas, flanked by knowingly smirking attendants.
Though the mural’s time at The Knickerbocker was short lived, Parrish’s Old King Cole mural has been lovingly restored
and remains atop the bar at what is now New York City’s
St. Regis Hotel.
ISSUE 3 – 2014
New York’s murals, scattered in bars and restaurants, mansions and civic buildings, have become partof the city’s fabric. But Maxfield Parrish’s Old King Cole, which sits above the bar of The St. Regis New York, is one of its most beloved
and contains an extraordinary link to the man who commissioned it, John Jacob Astor IV.
New York’s murals, scattered in bars and restaurants, mansions and civic buildings, have become partof the city’s fabric. But Maxfield Parrish’s Old King Cole, which sits above the bar of The St. Regis New York, is one of its most beloved
and contains an extraordinary link to the man who commissioned it, John Jacob Astor IV.
– The Back Story –
On a chilly November night last year (2013), about 120 people squeezed into the King Cole Bar and Salon at
The St. Regis New York.
The star of the night was a brilliantly-colored painting, just back from a $100,000 restoration and rehung in its place of honor above the bar where it has presided over similarly
chic events for almost eight decades.
One hundred and ten years ago, John Jacob Astor IV asked a young artist named Maxfield Parrish if he would like to paint a mural to hang in the bar-room of The Knickerbocker Hotel, Astor’s glamorous new flagship on 42nd Street and Broadway in New York City. The fee was $5,000, extremely generous for the time, but it came with caveats.
First, the subject of the painting had to be Old King Cole, and second, while Parrish would have complete artistic freedom in how he depicted the nursery-rhyme character, he had to use Astor as the model for King Cole’s face.
“At first, Parrish wasn’t sure he wanted the job,” explains Laurence Cutler, chairman of the National Museum of American Illustration and an expert on the artist.
“He didn’t like being told he had to do anything.”
Parrish had other concerns as well:
he came from a conservative Quaker family that frowned on alcohol and wasn’t thrilled that his work would hang in a bar. Plus, he had already painted a version of King Cole for the Mask and Wig Club, a private theater club in Philadelphia.
On a chilly November night last year (2013), about 120 people squeezed into the King Cole Bar and Salon at
The St. Regis New York.
The star of the night was a brilliantly-colored painting, just back from a $100,000 restoration and rehung in its place of honor above the bar where it has presided over similarly
chic events for almost eight decades.
One hundred and ten years ago, John Jacob Astor IV asked a young artist named Maxfield Parrish if he would like to paint a mural to hang in the bar-room of The Knickerbocker Hotel, Astor’s glamorous new flagship on 42nd Street and Broadway in New York City. The fee was $5,000, extremely generous for the time, but it came with caveats.
First, the subject of the painting had to be Old King Cole, and second, while Parrish would have complete artistic freedom in how he depicted the nursery-rhyme character, he had to use Astor as the model for King Cole’s face.
“At first, Parrish wasn’t sure he wanted the job,” explains Laurence Cutler, chairman of the National Museum of American Illustration and an expert on the artist.
“He didn’t like being told he had to do anything.”
Parrish had other concerns as well:
he came from a conservative Quaker family that frowned on alcohol and wasn’t thrilled that his work would hang in a bar. Plus, he had already painted a version of King Cole for the Mask and Wig Club, a private theater club in Philadelphia.
King Cole mural for the Mask and Wig Club by Maxfield Parrish
But Parrish’s father, Stephen Parrish
(1846 – 1938)
an established artist with connections in Philadelphia and
New York society, encouraged him to reconsider.
“Basically, he explained how unadvisable it would be for somebody just starting their career to say no
to somebody like Astor.”
(1846 – 1938)
an established artist with connections in Philadelphia and
New York society, encouraged him to reconsider.
“Basically, he explained how unadvisable it would be for somebody just starting their career to say no
to somebody like Astor.”
Parrish had recently moved from Philadelphia to Plainfield, New Hampshire, where he and his wife, Lydia, were expanding a small estate they had built
called The Oaks, which they would live in for the rest of their lives. He realized that the fee, the equivalent of $130,000 today, would set them up well and accepted the commission. He began work on Old King Cole in a studio that was
too small to hold the whole mural, so he painted
the three 8 feet x 10 feet panels one at a time.
He placed the king in the center,
flanked by jesters and guards.
called The Oaks, which they would live in for the rest of their lives. He realized that the fee, the equivalent of $130,000 today, would set them up well and accepted the commission. He began work on Old King Cole in a studio that was
too small to hold the whole mural, so he painted
the three 8 feet x 10 feet panels one at a time.
He placed the king in the center,
flanked by jesters and guards.
It was a more dramatic, less cartoon-like depiction than his first version of Cole for the Mask and Wig Club and,
when it was installed at the hotel in 1906,
it instantly became part of the fabric of a city
and a culture hurtling toward the excitement
and excesses of the Roaring Twenties.
“The Knickerbocker Bar, beamed upon by Maxfield Parrish’s jovial, colorful Old King Cole was well crowded”
wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald in This Side of Paradise.
when it was installed at the hotel in 1906,
it instantly became part of the fabric of a city
and a culture hurtling toward the excitement
and excesses of the Roaring Twenties.
“The Knickerbocker Bar, beamed upon by Maxfield Parrish’s jovial, colorful Old King Cole was well crowded”
wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald in This Side of Paradise.
Parrish picked a good time to accept a mural commission.
At the turn of the century, wealthy industrialists like Astor
were building mansions as quickly as they could
and hiring artists to adorn the walls.
“It was the golden age of American mural painting,” says Glenn Palmer-Smith, a painter
and author of Murals of New York City.
At the turn of the century, wealthy industrialists like Astor
were building mansions as quickly as they could
and hiring artists to adorn the walls.
“It was the golden age of American mural painting,” says Glenn Palmer-Smith, a painter
and author of Murals of New York City.
Established artists were able to command huge fees,
but the appeal was more than just financial.
The country had recently glimpsed the nuance and complexity of mural painting at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago,
which featured frescos and murals by some of the US and Europe’s most prominent painters.
American architects and artists were eager to embrace the medium.
Not long after the fair,
ten of the country’s best-known illustrators and painters, including Henry Siddons Mowbray and Robert Lewis Reid, collaborated on a mural depicting the history of law for the lobby of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division building on Madison Avenue, which opened in 1900. “Can you imagine ten top artists collaborating on anything today?” says Palmer-Smith.
but the appeal was more than just financial.
The country had recently glimpsed the nuance and complexity of mural painting at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago,
which featured frescos and murals by some of the US and Europe’s most prominent painters.
American architects and artists were eager to embrace the medium.
Not long after the fair,
ten of the country’s best-known illustrators and painters, including Henry Siddons Mowbray and Robert Lewis Reid, collaborated on a mural depicting the history of law for the lobby of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division building on Madison Avenue, which opened in 1900. “Can you imagine ten top artists collaborating on anything today?” says Palmer-Smith.
Parrish went on to paint eight additional murals over the course of his long and influential career,
including The Pied Piper in 1909 for the bar at
the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.
including The Pied Piper in 1909 for the bar at
the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.
But Old King Cole is arguably his most famous. It has all the hallmarks of his later illustrations and prints, including bold, luminous colors, classical architectural forms,
and an impish sense of humor.
“It launched his career,” says Laurence Cutler. “Immediately afterwards he received a commission to illustrate a cover for Harper’s Magazine, and from then on he worked non-stop for the next 40 years.”
and an impish sense of humor.
“It launched his career,” says Laurence Cutler. “Immediately afterwards he received a commission to illustrate a cover for Harper’s Magazine, and from then on he worked non-stop for the next 40 years.”
When the Knickerbocker closed in 1920, Old King Cole went into storage, then briefly hung in a museum in Chicago,
and was finally installed at The St. Regis, an Astor-owned hotel, in 1932. There, at the heart of Millionaires’ Alley,
as 55th Street was called at the time,
it made the transition from artwork to icon.
Longevity alone might explain the King Cole Bar’s popularity – New York City has been torn down and rebuilt so many times that its residents develop emotional attachments to places and things that survive the constant reinvention. But it is Parrish’s painting that patrons love and return to see over and over again.
“Parrish had a bet with his friends that he could paint absolutely anything,” said Palmer-Smith. “Old King Cole proved it.”
and was finally installed at The St. Regis, an Astor-owned hotel, in 1932. There, at the heart of Millionaires’ Alley,
as 55th Street was called at the time,
it made the transition from artwork to icon.
Longevity alone might explain the King Cole Bar’s popularity – New York City has been torn down and rebuilt so many times that its residents develop emotional attachments to places and things that survive the constant reinvention. But it is Parrish’s painting that patrons love and return to see over and over again.
“Parrish had a bet with his friends that he could paint absolutely anything,” said Palmer-Smith. “Old King Cole proved it.”
“Here’s another one of my favorite books from my library!” -RQ
(This is my second version. The first one fell apart and got paint all over it!)
(This is my second version. The first one fell apart and got paint all over it!)
Maxfield Parrish
Hardcover – Illustrated,
January 6, 1997
by Coy Ludwig
A compendium of the life and work of Maxfield Parrish,
it is an essential part of a Parrish library. For the collector,
the publisher has included a value guide to some of the products that bear Parrish images.
Examples of Parrish's most famous book illustrations are shown, including selections from Mother Goose in Prose and the Arabian Nights. Also included are his famous magazine covers-from Life, Collier's, Harper's Weekly, etc., as well as all the landscapes that he painted for Brown and Bigelow, who reproduced them as calendars every year from 1936 to 1963.
One of the highlights of the book is the chapter on Parrish's technique, examining in depth his materials, favorite methods, and unique way of painting. In addition, there is a lengthy excerpt from an unpublished manuscript
by Maxfield Parrish, Jr., explaining step-by-step his father's glazing technique and use of photography in his work.
This definitive study also contains numerous revealing excerpts from Parrish's unpublished correspondence with family, friends, and clients.
Hardcover – Illustrated,
January 6, 1997
by Coy Ludwig
A compendium of the life and work of Maxfield Parrish,
it is an essential part of a Parrish library. For the collector,
the publisher has included a value guide to some of the products that bear Parrish images.
Examples of Parrish's most famous book illustrations are shown, including selections from Mother Goose in Prose and the Arabian Nights. Also included are his famous magazine covers-from Life, Collier's, Harper's Weekly, etc., as well as all the landscapes that he painted for Brown and Bigelow, who reproduced them as calendars every year from 1936 to 1963.
One of the highlights of the book is the chapter on Parrish's technique, examining in depth his materials, favorite methods, and unique way of painting. In addition, there is a lengthy excerpt from an unpublished manuscript
by Maxfield Parrish, Jr., explaining step-by-step his father's glazing technique and use of photography in his work.
This definitive study also contains numerous revealing excerpts from Parrish's unpublished correspondence with family, friends, and clients.
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