Graydon Parrish

His parents, collectors of American and European nineteenth-century art, exposed him to painting at a young age and influenced his choice to pursue an academic figurative style.

[8] In 2002, Douglas Hyland, the director of the New Britain Museum of American Art, approached Parrish to create an allegorical tribute to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

It has become somewhat controversial, both for its unabashedly academic style inspired by Jacques-Louis David and William Bouguereau and for its highly symbolic content, said to express the cycle of denial and tragedy.

Pitkin's ideas of community and family influenced Parrish's subsequent works, including his current Freedom Red project, a synthesis of art and activism which donates proceeds to HIV/AIDS charities.

[13][14] Parrish counts among his contemporary influences realist painters Odd Nerdrum, Jacob Collins, Steven Assael, Christopher Pugliese and Daniel Sprick, as well as Bridget Riley.

Parrish's collectors include Christopher Forbes, Michael Huffington, Diane Sawyer, Robert and Chris Emmons, Rita and David Traff, Vernon and Amy Faulconer, Therèse Garner, Lloyd and Renée Greif, and Paul and Melinda Sullivan.