Minneapolis Institute of Art

Dream Castle in the Sky

Maxfield Parrish

Date

1908

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Parrish brought together a harmonious group of elements: a nude figure with panpipes who gazes longingly at a castle perched on a craggy cliff across a lake. Parrish’s skillful lines and details gave his work a photographic quality and made him an incredibly popular painter and illustrator. But color was his secret weapon. He achieved his trademark luminous color, seen here especially in the lake and trees, by building up layers of colored glazes on the surface of the painting. It is said that at the height of his career, one in four American homes had a Parrish—usually a print, illustrated book, or magazine cover. United States, Americas

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