Maxfield Parrish

Maxfield Parrish (1870–1966), The Lantern Bearers, 1908
Oil on canvas mounted on board, 40 × 32 in. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. 2006.71.

American illustrator Maxfield Parrish originally created this painting to be reproduced in Collier’s magazine. The Lantern Bearers captures the sense of imagination, theatrical appeal, and luminous paint that made Parrish’s work so popular. He applied layers of pure pigment and varnish to create a brilliant depth of color. Figures dressed as clowns hang gold-hued lanterns, which glow against the blue night sky. While the six lanterns being handled by the clowns appear clearly, the nature of the four spheres in the distance is more ambiguous. Perhaps one of them is the moon?