Isolde

Clara Parrish was born to a household where the arts were heartily encouraged and pursued. In her training as an artist, she was exposed to a variety of mediums, artistic styles (plein-air painting, Impressionism, and portraiture among these), and teachers.

As a stained-glass designer for Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company, Parrish had a keen eye for the way light interacts with color. The use of strong contrast in her portraits—giving the sitters a hazy yet accurate appearance that captured their spirit as well as their likeness—could have been derived from her experience in working with light during her time with Tiffany. Her portraits possess a “soulful and introspective quality, with their dark backgrounds and controlled use of color.”