Maxfield Parrish is one of the most iconic artist of the Golden Age of Illustration. He was most well known for his calendar covers in the 1920’s and 1930’s. These would been seen across America’s homes at the time, and often the calendar artwork would be saved and framed, after that year had passed. He was also commissioned for many magazine covers, book illustrations and commercial artwork (such as for Jello). But Parrish, like many other Golden Age Illustrators (such as JC Leyendecker and Howard Pyle), did not get the notoriety and name recognition they deserved. Aside from Parrish being probably my favorite artist, he was also a good person to profile as being hidden in history. For images of Parrish work please refer to this link (from the National Museum of American Illustration).
The guest for the interview is Judy Goffman Cutler, Director of the National Museum of American Illustration (NMAI). Please find below photos of Vernon Court (which houses the NMAI collection), and Judy Goffman Cutler.
Judy Goffman Cutler is an art dealer, art collector, co-founder and Director of the National Museum of American Illustration, and founder and Executive Director of the American Illustrators Gallery, NYC, the premier gallery showcasing major original artworks from the ‘Golden Age of American Illustration’. The collection includes works by Norman Rockwell, Maxfield Parrish, NC Wyeth, Howard Pyle, JC Leyendecker, Jessie Willcox Smith, Elizabeth Shippen Green, Howard Chandler Christy, Violet Oakley, James Montgomery Flagg, and many other illustrators. Judy started collecting in the ‘70’s and officially named this special group of artists from the Golden Age of American Illustration “The American Imagists” when the NMAI opened to the Public on July 4, 2000. The National Museum of American Illustration houses her American Imagists collection in a Gilded Age Mansion, on Bellevue Avenue, Vernon Court, Newport RI, designed by Carriere & Hastings (1894-1903).
In the 1980s, she was the first to tour original artworks by the greatest American Illustrators, including Norman Rockwell and Maxfield Parrish, in Europe, including Cortina d’ Ampezzo and Rome, Italy, Paris, France and London, England, and in Asia, including Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, Japan. She continues to organize and curate art exhibitions across the United States and internationally, and has authored and co-authored over fifty exhibition catalogues and art books published by Bison Books/Crescent Books (Random House), Harry N. Abrams, and Pomegranate Artbooks.
