The Nassau County Museum of Art announced its newest exhibition “Maxfield Parrish: Paintings and Prints from the National Museum of American Illustration” will be on display from Nov. 21, 2015 to Feb. 28, 2016.
The exhibition will feature works by American imagist Maxfield Parish, and will be drawn from the National Museum of American Illustration in Newport, R.I.
Museum Director Karl E. Willers said “Maxfield Parrish is well known and much beloved.”
“Maxfield Parrish has a real following and this exhibition is likely to attract people from around the northeast,” Willers said.
Willers said that nearly 200 of Parrish’s works will “fill the museum” including some of his original works as well as vintage prints.
Judy Goffman Cutler, who is the director and co-founder of the National Museum of American Illustration with her husband Laurence Cutler, said her museum has the largest collection of Parrish’s works in the world.
“The exhibition will open their eyes to the talent and splendor of Parrish’s paintings and prints,” she said. “Everyone should come to see this exhibition. It will be fantastic. It will be well worth the admission price.”
Cutler said that her museum and the Nassau County Museum share the same concept of being a gilded age mansion that was maintained in the past and then converted into a museum to make it accessible to the public.
This concept, Cutler said, made the Nassau County Museum a “perfect fit” to showcase Parrish’s work.
On Dec. 5, Judy and Laurence, who are also the curators of the exhibition, will be giving a talk about Parish and other American imagists.
“[Laurence and I] are two experts,” Judy said. “[The talk] should be fun and knowledgeable.”
“Parrish Blue: An American Art History,” a 30-minute documentary, will be screened daily, the release said.
The documentary includes images of many of Parrish’s original canvases and features comments made by Maxfield Parrish Jr., Parrish’s son, and Normal Rockwell, a friend and fellow artist.
Screenings of the documentary are free with museum admission.
Three Brown Bag Lectures will be given by Museum Docent Rita Ettus on Dec. 17, Jan. 7 and Feb. 4, where Ettus will discuss Parrish’s works and career, the release said.
Gemini Journey will also present a violin and cello concert on Dec. 19 featuring music from the early 20th century, which the release described as “the Golden Age of Illustration”.
“We’re extremely excited especially for an exhibition that is tailor made for our audience here on Long Island and beyond,” Willers said. “It’s quite a wonderful show.”
Additional information about these and other events, as well as registration for the Dec. 5 and 19 events, will be available on the museum’s website, nassaumuseum.org/events, beginning on Nov. 9.
