Alarums and Excursions - Maxfield Parrish
Archival giclée
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Description
A dramatic fantasy illustration by Maxfield Parrish, depicting a knight confronting a giant serpent in a monochromatic wash style.
Alarums and Excursions is a characteristic early work by Maxfield Parrish, created for the publication 'The Golden Age' by Kenneth Grahame. The composition demonstrates the artist's early mastery of monochromatic wash techniques, which he later refined into his signature luminous oil glazing process. The scene depicts a knight in chainmail confronting a colossal serpent, a motif that draws upon the romanticised medievalism popular in late nineteenth-century illustration.
Parrish employs a distinct approach to spatial depth here. The figure of the knight and the coiled body of the serpent occupy the foreground, while the distant castle on the hill provides a secondary plane of interest. The use of stippling and fine line work creates texture on the knight's armour and the scales of the creature. This attention to surface detail is balanced by the flat, decorative treatment of the surrounding foliage and the architectural elements in the background.
The title itself, a phrase derived from Shakespearean stage directions, suggests a sense of theatrical drama. Parrish captures a moment of tension, freezing the action just before the strike. The muted palette, consisting primarily of greys and sepia tones, allows the viewer to focus on the interplay of light and shadow across the forms. This work provides insight into the development of Parrish's aesthetic, showing his early interest in the intersection of fantasy literature and graphic design. It remains a clear example of the high level of technical precision that defined his career as one of the most successful illustrators of his era.
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Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. See our refunds page for full details.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Alarums and Excursions - Maxfield Parrish
Artist Biography
Maxfield Parrish
He called himself a mechanic who paints. Beneath his studio he built a workshop filled with machines, and used them to construct model scenes, props and lighting rigs for his paintings. The process was closer to set design than to plein air. He would build a miniature landscape, light it from specific angles, photograph it, then paint from the photograph using a layering technique borrowed from the Old Masters: thin coats of transparent oil glaze over a plaster base, each layer drying before the next, so the under-colours shone through. The method eliminated visible brushstrokes and produced a luminosity that looked like stained glass.
Daybreak, painted in 1922, became the most reproduced art print of the twentieth century. It outsold Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans and Da Vinci's Last Supper in print form. By the mid-1920s it was estimated that one in four American households had a Parrish print on the wall. The image appeared in Terrence Malick's Badlands and inspired the poster for The Princess Bride. For three models he used his own daughter Jean, Kitty Owen (granddaughter of William Jennings Bryan), and his young nanny Susan Lewin.
In 1900, tuberculosis followed by a nervous breakdown forced him to stop working. The recovery period changed his technique: it was during this convalescence that he developed the glazing method that defined the rest of his career. He lived to ninety-five, painting until the last few years.
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