SEPTEMBER 2021
Reading, Writing, And…..
From time immemorial, when September rolled around, children and parents of all ages prepared for the ritual of returning to school or being taught at home. Parrish used the memory of his high jinks with his children as part of three Collier’s covers called: Alphabet, Penmanship and Arithmetic.
This is the last of these three paintings of school days subjects, the illustration above being a photo of the magazine cover itself, from the Collier’s issue of September 30, 1911.
The Parrish children had a teacher who came to their home beginning in September and taught them when they were old enough for their daily academic lessons. Their favorite subject, of course was drawing and all of them were gifted along those lines. Which, given their parents background in art, is not surprising. Lydia of course had been an Arts Teacher in the Drexal Institute in Philadelphia where she and Parrish initially met, during the time when Parrish received his early lessons in drawing techniques.
According to some of their correspondence that I’ve read, all four of the Parrish children were fairly gifted. Their teachers who came to their home at The Oaks often complained that when their father looked in on their lessons, he would disrupt the goings on until their teachers complained to Lydia, their mother, who shooed the mischievous disrupter and restored the classroom to order.
Dillwyn & Maxfield, Jr.
This photograph is from the files at the Rauner Archives, Dartmouth College, Hanover NH, of Dillwyn and Max Jr. doing their lessons, circa 1909. This was used in the composition the 1910 painting which became the Collier’s cover called Penmanship for their issue of September 3, 1910
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In regards to our 2021 exhibit of Parrish originals currently for sale, please view all the paintings, watercolors, and drawings by clicking on the Art for Sale link above.
Contact Alma Gilbert for the full catalogue and price list: agilbert@almagilbert.com
