Tribute to Maxfield Parrish

Tribute to Maxfield Parrish by artist Patricia “Tish” Ingersoll, celebrates the popular illustrator and Philadelphia native Maxfield Parrish. The mural was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) which Parrish attended. To create this “homage”, Ingersoll first studied Parrish’s works, taking special note of his color palette and his favorite landscape elements, such as water, trees, and rocks. She then created her mural to resemble the style of the artist.

Ingersoll, a landscape artist in her own right, likes to create her images starting first with a foundation color or under-painting, followed by transparent washes and finished with opaque colors—in a style similar to that of Parrish. So as not to distract from the visual impact of the large tree, she chose to leave the left side of the mural blank, adding only the banner and a balustrade along the bottom. The figure was added after the mural dedication because the artist felt the composition called for it. It is loosely based on a figure from one of Parrish’s own compositions.

While Ingersoll was painting the mural, children from the neighborhood would stop by every day after school to help her, including painting the tree stump and some stones and logs which were lying around the lot in front of the mural. They wanted her to start an after-school center where they could come and do their homework.

Location Note: Mural no longer on view at this location (covered by new construction ca. 2007).