Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Maxfield Parrish’s illustrations for an 1897 edition of Frank L. Baum’s “Mother Goose in Prose.” was also a Fisk tire advertisement. (thanks to Pau!)





from the 1919 Country Life Magazine



http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2014/american-art-n09148/lot.48.html

from the back page of the May 1918 Country Life Magazine
http://www.dreamgardener.com/magfiskred.html




Mother Goose in Prose is a collection of twenty-two children's stories based on Mother Goose nursery rhymes. It was the first children's book written by L. Frank Baum, and the first book illustrated by Maxfield Parrish. It was originally published in 1897 by Way and Williams of Chicago, and re-released by the George M. Hill Company in 1901.

you can read it online at https://archive.org/stream/mothergooseinpro00baum#page/n5/mode/2up

The volume begins with an historical overview written by Baum himself, in which he notes that the first use of the name "Mother Goose" was by the great French author of fantasies, Charles Perrault -- the inventor of Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and Puss in Boots. Each tale begins with the nursery rhyme, and then a tale that illustrates the rhyme follows -- told in Baum's charming, natural fashion. Mother Goose in Prose is a delight for children of all ages. The book's last selection features a girl named Dorothy who can talk to animals — an anticipation of the Oz books.




http://www.dreamgardener.com/magazineads.html


above, sing a song of sixpence




Old king Cole seems to be a favorite of Parrish, who did both of these variations on the story. The bottom one, the original painting, hangs in the St Regis Hotel, it's been appraised between 5 and 10 million dollars. http://magazine.stregis.com/walls-of-fame/


more 3d than usual, even for Parrish
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eoskins/page9

by the way, there was a companion volume:



Parrish also illustrated a couple other significantly famous books (that I've only just learned of)



"The Sugar-Plum Tree" 1904 (Poems of Childhood by Eugene Field)

you can read some of the poems by Eugene Field  http://www.poetry-archive.com/f/the_dinkey_bird.html#ecI5HxAKkhM644ep.99

He seems to have done quite a few commercial advertisements, here's one for Hire's Root Beer

1921 Century Magazine
http://www.dreamgardener.com/hires.html



and Jello


and Colgate! 


If you'd like to see more of the art from the many themes of Parrish's work, click through http://artpassions.net/parrish/parrish.html

and you can visit museums such as the Haggin Museum in Stockton, which was the recipient of paintings from Parrish himself. 

1 comment:

  1. In the first 2 pictures, Mother Goose looks a lot like the wicked witch of the west. Maybe that's where Baum got inspiration for that character.

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