Since 1967, Hake’s Americana & Collectibles has unified the love collectors have for American history and pop culture by hosting over 200 auctions of historical and pop culture memorabilia. Now, on the cusp of the auction house’s 50th birthday, Hake’s is holding Auction #219, another sale bursting at the seams with political collectibles, comic books, vintage toys, and scores of beautiful art.
The auction, which goes online October 25 and closes November 15-17, 2016, has a selection of calendars, art, and figures by Maxfield Parrish. Best known for his fantasy landscapes filled with attractive women, Parrish was one of the most in-demand commercial artists in the US during the 1920s. His art appeared in children’s books, such as Eugene Field’s Poems of Childhood, magazines like Life, Colliers, Century, Scribners, and Hearst’s, as well as ad campaigns for Colgate, Oneida Cutlery, and Wanamaker’s.
His fantastical art was captured on posters and in calendars, often featuring the likenesses of Kitty Owen and Susan Lewin. From 1918 until 1934 he provided the illustrations for General Electric’s calendars. In the early ’30s, he decided it was time for a transition and began working diligently on landscape paintings.
Parrish’s art was so meticulously colorful that the color Parrish blue was named after him. He used glazing to achieve vibrant colors and projected geometric prints onto his works to represent distortion and draping for the clothing of his characters. Parrish would also attach photographic images to his canvas and cover them with clear glaze to produce a three-dimensional impression of the painting.
Over 25 lots of Parrish collectibles will be in Hake’s Auction #219, including Edison Mazda calendars. Starting with the first one he created for General Electric’s Edison Mazda Lamps lightbulb division in 1918 and including most years through 1934. A few are individual pages while most are full calendar pads, and all of them have been professionally framed and French matted in wooden frames.
Parrish’s art accompanying the calendars includes “Dawn And Night Has Fled” (1918), “Primitive Man” (1921), Egypt (1922), “The Lamp Seller of Bagdad” (1923), The Venetian Lamplighter” (1924), “Enchantment” (1926), “Reveries” (1927), “Contentment” (1928), “Ecstasy” (1930), “The Waterfall” (1931), “Solitude” (1932), and “Moonlight” (1934).
Hake’s is also offering Parrish’s “Cleopatra” framed House of Art print from 1917. An ornate wooden frame houses the print of art originally created for the box lid for C.A. Crane Candy Company.
They will also sell a variety of prints, some with original frames, including “Pied Piper,” “Old King Cole,” “Lute Players,” “Garden of Allah,” “Stars,” “Daybreak,” “Hilltop,” and “Dreaming.”
Hake’s Americana & Collectibles accepts bids via phone, mail, or online at www.hakes.com. The first session of the auction closes on November 15 and the second session closes on November 17. To receive a free printed catalog or for information on any item in the sale, call toll free (866) 404-9800 or (717) 434-1600, email hakes@hakes.com, and view the auction online at www.hakes.com.
