Thanksgiving
Tramp's Dinner (alt. title)
Parrish, Maxfield, American painter, illustrator, 1870-1966
1905
oil, charcoal and pastel on paper mounted to cardboard
Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial, 1935

Along with Norman Rockwell and Howard Pyle, Parrish is one of the best known American illustrators. By using the technique of oil glazing, he was bale to build up tone and luminosity in his colors and attain rich textures. The slow nature of this process demanded that Parrish rely on photography to capture figure poses. Parrish first finished the underlying landscape, then, with the use of glass negative plates, would project the figure onto the landscape and sketch in the form.
Thanksgiving, also known as The Tramp’s Dinner, graced the cover of Collier’s 1905 Thanksgiving issue. The image reminded readers that it takes only a sufficiency to be thankful. For the tramp this meant a piece of bread, a tin of food, a small fire and a copy of The New York Times, all enjoyed under the open sky.