Search - Discovery of Art: Maxfield Parrish on DVD

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Brent R. Swanson | Crooper, Illinois | 12/06/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Maxfield Parrish and his artwork have been enjoying renewed discovery and re-evaluation of late, emerging from thinly veiled contempt accorded a commercial illustrator to recognition as an important and influential American artist whose use and development of glazes, color, and super-realism continue to influence artists in the present century.

This DVD presents an overview of Parrish's illustrations and paintings from his earliest drawings to his final landscape. Some of these illustrations have not been published at large; there are four or five I've never seen printed anywhere. Some of the paintings shown on this DVD appear to have been filmed from the original art rather than prints; their color is stunning.

Unfortunately, this DVD has little else to recommend it. The narration is redundant and sometimes incorrect. Parrish never married model Susan Lewin; his relationship with her was a minor scandal in his community. Nor are the illustrations always correlative with the narration. Apparently, the producers of this documentary had limited access to Parrish's body of work, and several of the same paintings appear over and over again. No narrative mention is made of the "Florentine Fete" murals, nor of the groundbreaking color range employed in the Vanderbilt murals, two key points in Parrish's career and development as an artist.

The only feature more annoying than the narration is the music, which sounds like something you might hear in a grocery store.

There are plenty of good book collections of Parrish's art, particularly those authored by Alma Gilbert. This DVD has value only for the artwork it contains that has not been published in book form. View it for that, with the sound turned off."