Maxfield Parrish and Little Sugar River at Noon
Kristina Falwell
Dr. Bruce Macdonald
World Cultures II HUM112
August 21, 2011

Abstract
This report describes a vivid depiction of the painting Little Sugar River at Noon. In addition the report touches on the painter and illustrator Fredrick Maxfield Parrish. It goes on to describe how oil paints are developed. Finally, it further defines how this medium of art allows the painting to have texture and dimension.

The painting the Little Sugar River at Noon is a New England landscape (Parrish). It depicts a sandy beach along a river bend with a vivid blue sky and a couple of big white fluffy clouds. The little river is unmoving and clear like a sheet of glass. The river wines around the landscape jutting in and out of the valley. The beech is not made completely of sand there are some bushes and moss or grass mixed in with the sand. The sky and surrounding foliage are reflected of the surface of the river. Off in the distance there are more trees, hills, and mountains. The trees are varying heights, types, and shades of green. The trees add a calm feeling to the painting which allows you to imagine and indulge in a great summer day. The hills and mountains off in the very far distance have rounded peeks. They have been painted in hues of reds, browns, grays, and blues; these mixtures of colors add to the majestic serene picture landscape. This style of paining was an American Romantic Landscape (Sayre, 2011). The painting is offset by its rustic wooden frame. This gives the picture a rural country feel that could have been painted at the turn of the 19th century or even today in the 21st century. This painting could be reproduced today for calendars or postcards. Fredrick Maxfield Parrish was born July 25, 1870 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania (Parrish-House). He began drawing for his own pleasure early in his life. Fredrick Maxfield Parrish went on to pursue a painting-illustrator career that lasted for many decades. His paintings were created under the name Maxfield Parrish. Maxfields career was launched by being commissioned to illustrate Kenneth Grahame’s The Walls Were as of Jasper in 1897 (Parrish-House). He went on to complete many prestigious projects to include “Little Sugar River at Noon” (Parrish). His production of landscapes and fantastical settings were recurring themes, which were often reproduced in posters and calendars. Parrish was famous for the dazzlingly luminous colors that marked his artwork; the shade cobalt blue was coined “Parrish Blue” in acknowledgement of his prolific use of the dazzling color (Alumbo member, 2007). He achieved this result by means of special techniques involving several coats of oil and varnish applied to his paintings. This technique was termed as glazing. Maxfield Parrish was one of America’s most beloved and popular artists until the turn of the century. He defined the “Golden Age of Illustration” (Virginia Fine Arts Museum, 1996). Parrish continued painting until he was about 90 years old and he died at the age of 96 on March 30, 1966 in Windsor, Vermont (Parrish-House). Finally, oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil. Oil colors are made by mixing dry powder pigments with selected refined linseed oil to a stiff paste consistency and grinding it by strong friction in steel roller mills (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011). Other oils are occasionally used include poppy seed oil, walnut oil, and safflower oil. These oils give various properties to the oil paint, such as different drying times. Additional differences from the other oils are also visible in the sheen of the paints depending on the oil. Painters are known to often use different oils in the same painting depending on the specific pigments and effects desired. Consistency of color is important in painting. Oil painting provided an outstanding facility with which fusion of tones and or color is achieved. At the same time, satisfactory linear treatment and crisp effects can be easily obtained. Opaque, transparent, and translucent painting all lay within its range, and oil painting is unsurpassed for textural and dimension variation (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011). In conclusion, Maxfield Parrish was famous for his use of dazzling vivid color pallets in his oil paintings. He defined the Golden Age of Illustration and he was one of America’s most beloved and popular artists until the turn of the century. The oil paints used in his paintings are a mixture of dry powder pigments and normally refined linseed oil. Oil paints allow artists to provide an outstanding fusion of tones and or color to achieve opaque, transparent, and translucent paintings. This medium also allows the painting to have texture and dimension. Finally, the Little Sugar River at Noon is a classic New England landscape painting that is still admired today.

References
Alumbo member. (2007, October 24). Alumbo. Retrieved August 21, 2011, from Maxfield Parrish: Knee-Deep in Parrish Blues: http://www.alumbo.com/article/37945-Maxfield-Parrish-Knee-Deep-in-Parrish-Blues.html

Encyclopædia Britannica. (2011). Retrieved July 9, 2011, from Encyclopeadia Britannica: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/214545/fossil-fuel

Parrish, M. Little Sugar River at Noon. Little Sugar River at Noon. Virginia Fine Arts Museum, Richmond.

Parrish-House. (n.d.). Maxfield Parrish Biography. Retrieved August 17, 2011, from Parrish-House: http://www.parrish-house.com/

Sayre, H. M. (2011). The Humanities: Culture, Continuity and Change. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

Virginia Fine Arts Museum. (1996). Virginia Fine Arts Museum. Retrieved August 6, 2011, from American Collection: http://www.vmfa.state.va.us/Collections/American/

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Little Sugar River at Noon