- Maxfield Parrish (American, 1870-1966)
Summer, 1908
Initialed “M · P” l.l., inscribed “Maxfield Parrish./Windsor:Vermont.” in
the artist’s hand on the backing.
Oil on canvas laid on board, 21 x 16 in. (53.4 x 40.7 cm), framed.
Condition: Craquelure, minor retouch.
N.B. The lot is accompanied by the original sales receipt made out to
Mr. Arthur Goadby from The New York Co-operative Society dated May
26, 1909, and by a handwritten letter from Maxfield Parrish to Arthur
Goadby, dated November 10th, 1915. Parrish’s letter responds to
a note of appreciation sent by Mr. Goadby to the artist. In his reply,
Parrish discusses the title, Summer, and relates that, “...it was begun
as a painting of ‘Pandora’ reclining against the box and idly fingering
the knot. Afterwards it was cut down and changed to its present
form. May be the dealer gave it the name of ‘Summer.’ I dare say it
was merely a guess, and any name you may see fit to give it, I am sure
will answer just as well. The landscape was purely imaginative, and
the figure partly painted from life. It was painted here in Cornish, and
represents no particularly country.” Further jottings from Mr. Goadby
include a photograph of The Vale of Tempe in Thessaly, and his notes
drawing parallels between that landscape and his Parrish painting.
Goadby writes, “it is remarkable that the artist had conceived an
imaginary scene laid in Greece which later is shown to be so accurate.”
So struck was Goadby by the similarity, he decided to re-christen his
Parrish painting “The Vale of Tempe.”The lot is also accompanied by a letter of authentication from Alma
Gilbert-Smith that provides further history. Consulting Parrish’s records,
Ms. Smith found that the artist completed two different paintings of
Pandora that were both submitted to Collier’s. The first, a nude, and
the painting at hand, was submitted in November 1907, but the painting
was returned, unused. In June of 1908 Parrish submitted a second
Pandora to Collier’s, this version with the figure in a diaphanous gown.
The second painting was published by Collier’s as Pandora: Paradise
for Children in their October 16, 1909, issue, and later appeared in
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s A Wonderbook of Tanglewood Tales in 1910.We wish to thank Alma Gilbert-Smith for her kind assistance with
cataloguing the lot.
$40,000-60,000online bidding at http://www.skinnerinc.com 81