Maxfield Parrish, Anthropomorphic Frogs, & More!

Villanova MA student Christoforos Sassaris has been working as a research center intern at the Brandywine River Museum of Art, and his time there has introduced him to some interesting artifacts.

Much of his work has centered on a collection relating to the celebrated artist Maxfield Parrish, who was born in Philadelphia and became famous for his paintings and illustrations. While examining a scrapbook, Sassaris happened upon an image of a male figure (possibly Parrish) encountering a spectral double exposure figure—possibly a study for an unfinished painting?

Sassaris was able to make connections and form hypotheses based upon the varied contents of the scrapbook: "The inserted items vary from newspaper clippings to art prints. One interesting standout was a two-page child’s report on how sugar is made on St. Simon’s Island, Georgia. This report speaks to the Parrish children’s frequent trips to that locale with their mother, artist and writer Lydia Parrish (1871-1953), who later wrote Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands (1942)," writes Sassaris.

Sassaris has also been working with a collection that contains original drawings, published work and research materials relating to Henry Louis Stephens (1824–1882)—a Philadelphia-born illustrator, cartoonist, author and editor. Among these pieces are cartoons and illustrations of anthropomorphic animals, "to considerable humorous or satirical effect."

You can read more about the Parrish collection here, the Stephens collection here, and you can watch a video of Sassaris introducing and explaining his "staff pick," a title page illustration from Parrish for Louise Saunders's 1925 play, The Knave of Hearts, on Youtube.

Parrish's illustration on the left, and a similar Thomas Nast illustration on the right