Collection Online as of September 23, 2023

(American, 1870–1966)

Brush and black and gray wash, with white gouache, over graphite, framing lines in pen and black ink

Support: Beige wove paper

Sheet: 37.5 x 24.8 cm (14 3/4 x 9 3/4 in.); Image: 27.9 x 17.7 cm (11 x 6 15/16 in.)

Bequest of James Parmelee 1940.723

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Parrish employs a technique called <em>sgraffito </em>(“to scratch”) on the serpent’s tongue, producing its mottled texture by scraping away the upper layer of paper.

Description

Alarums and Excursions is one of nineteen illustrations the young Maxfield Parrish created for Kenneth Grahame’s The Golden Age, a children’s book published in 1899. In the chapter Alarums accompanies, the narrator persuades a friend to join him in a make-believe of Arthurian legends. Parrish depicted one of the boys in the midst of their playful fantasy, as the he prepares to strike an enormous, coiled serpent. Parrish rendered the scene in crisp detail, using flat, delicate washes of monochrome ink, strong linear contours, and scintillating pricks of white gouache on the boy’s chainmail. Parrish’s designs found mainstream success in a variety of print media, making him one of the best-known illustrators of the twentieth century.

Inscriptions

Inscription

signed in image, lower right, in black watercolor: M . P; lower left, by artist, across bottom margin, in graphite: "Alarums and Excursions." . . . Once again were damsels rescued, dragons / disembowelled, and giants . . . etc.; verso, by artist, in top half: no. 225 [inside a box] / Maxfield Parrish. / "The Oaks" / Windsor: Vermont. / June of 1899.; on fragment of old mount, now removed, in brown ink: Original pen + ink drawing by Maxfield Parrish. / Being one of the illustrations of "The Golden Age" / by Kenneth Grahame (John Lane Co. 1899); on fragment of old mount, now removed: B[ought?] of Frd'k Keppel Co. / 1899-$50-

Provenance

1899-?

(Frederick Keppel & Co., New York, NY.)

?-1940

James C. [1855-1931] and Alice W. [1862-1940] Parmelee, Cleveland, OH, bequest to The Cleveland Museum of Art.

1940-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH.

Citations

Grahame, Kenneth. The Golden Age. John Lane Co.: London & New York [printed], 1899. Reproduced: opp. p. 42 and in 1904 edition.

Ludwig, Coy L.. “From Parlor Print to Museum: The Art of Maxfield Parrish.” Art Journal 25, no. 2 (Winter 1965-1966): 143-146. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 143-144, fig 2.

Ludwig, Coy L., Diane Casella Hines, Robert Fillie, and James Craig. Maxfield Parrish. New York, NY: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1973. Mentioned: pp. 28-29, 206; Reproduced: p. 32, fig. 20.

Brandywine River Museum, and Maxfield Parrish. Maxfield Parrish, Master of Make-Believe: An Exhibition, June 1 Through September 2, 1974. 1974. Reproduced: pp. 40-41, no. 105

Bharucha, Fershid and Rosalie Gomes. Black & White: Being the Early Illustrations of Maxfield Parrish. New York, NY: Thumbtack Books, 1982. Reproduced: p. 85

Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: The Museum, 1991. Reproduced: p. 138

Yount, Sylvia, Mark Bockrath, Serena Rattazzi, Daniel Rosenfeld, and Maxfield Parrish. Maxfield Parrish, 1870-1966. New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1999. Mentioned: p. 54, Reproduced: p. 56

Cleveland Museum of Art, Diane DeGrazia, and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 2000. Mentioned: cat. no. 92, p. 5, pp. 220-221; p. 296

Dowd, Douglas Bevan, and Stephanie Haboush Plunkett. Stick Figures: Drawing As a Human Practice. St. Louis, Missouri: Spartan Holiday Books, 2018. Reproduced: P. 140' fig. 77

Exhibition history

Exhibition of Maxfield Parrish’s drawings for book commissions, including The Golden Age, held at Keppel Gallery, New York, NY (1899).

Maxfield Parrish, Master of Make-Believe. Brandywine River Museum of Art (organizer) (May 31-September 2, 1974).

America Draws. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1984-March 17, 1985).

American Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 19-July 12, 1998).

Maxfield Parrish: 1870-1966. Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Museum of American Art (June 19-September 26, 1999).

Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002).