Maxfield Parrish: The Artist’s Journey (IP)
Fall (1.5 to 2.5 hours) | Registration opens 8/13/2026 12:00 AM EDT
This is the registration page for the in-person option for this course.
So much has been written (and far more than that simply speculated) about the life, work and art historical importance of Maxfield Parrish. In this course,we’ll review and study the most accurate art historical background and information about Parrish’s artistic values and influences revealed in the as-yet-unpublished letters Lydia Parrish sent home to her mother from Maxfield and Lydia’s European Grand Tour of 1903. We’ll compare these first-person revelations with a deep art historical dive into how Parrish developed from his clever and artistic styles of illustration prior to 1903 to his fully mature and significant work as a 20th C. American artist thereafter.
This course will combine lecture with class discussions.
Image: “Maxfield Parrish” by edenpictures is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Recommended Books:
Maxfield Parrish - Coy Ludwig (ISBN-13: 978-0887405274)
Italian Villas and Their Gardens - Edith Wharton with illustrations by Maxfield Parris (ISBN-13: 978-084783115)
Note: The recommended books can be found on used book sites.
Jo Evarts
Evarts has taught art history, history and literature to students of all ages in private schools (Dalton, King, Ethel Walker School, Brooklyn Poly Prep,Grace Church School) since 1972. She has her BA from Wellesley College and her EdM in Counseling and Consulting Psychology from Harvard. She and her husband were the editors and writers of The Complete Hoot, and they did youth and adult Shakespeare theatre in Cornish from 1995-2021. This is her 9th year teaching in Osher.