MAXFIELD PARRISH, American illustrator born (d. 1966) Parrish’s artistic career lasted for more than half a century, and helped shape the Golden Age of illustration and the future of American visual arts.  His work is among the most recognizable in modern art.

Achieving initial fame with numerous commissions from popular magazines in the 1910s and 1920s including Hearst’s, Colliers, and Life he was a favorite of advertisers, including Wanamaker’s, Edison-Mazda Lamps, Fisk Tires, Colgate and Oneida Cutlery. In the 1920s, Parrish turned away from illustration and concentrated on painting for its own sake. Androgynous nudes in fantastical settings were a recurring theme. Parrish himself posed for many images that featured male — and occasionally female — figures.