Maxfield Parrish - The Lute Players

The Lute Players is a quintessential Maxfield Parrish fantasy — three graceful female figures in a classical setting, two playing the lute while a third reclines in repose, rendered in Parrish's signature warm, luminous palette of saturated jewel-toned glazes.

Maxfield Parrish (1870–1966) was born Frederick Parrish in Philadelphia, son of painter and etcher Stephen Parrish. He adopted “Maxfield” — his paternal grandmother's maiden name — as his professional name. Raised in a Quaker household, he studied at Haverford College and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under the influence of Howard Pyle. By the 1920s he was the highest-paid commercial artist in America — at his peak, a Parrish print hung in one in four American homes. Norman Rockwell called him “one of my gods.”

This particular example is a large-format 1999 edition published by Bruce McGaw Graphics, authorized by the Maxfield Parrish Trust and the American Illustrators Gallery — with gold foil marking that distinguishes it from standard printings and places it at the upper end of the collector market. Comparable large-format gold foil Parrish editions trade at $400–$700 CAD at auction and through galleries.

This is a rare original offset lithograph printing.

Print Details

• Image 34″ × 24″ on paper 36″ × 24″
• 1999 edition — Bruce McGaw Graphics, authorized by the Maxfield Parrish Trust / American Illustrators Gallery
• Rare original offset lithograph with gold foil marking
• Large-format edition — above-standard collector value
• A striking collector’s piece for admirers of American illustration, Art Nouveau, and golden age fine art.