Born Frederick Parrish, he took the name Maxfield from his Quaker grandmother. His father Stephen was an artist and encouraged his son from an early age and remained Maxfield's greatest influence. Maxfield started out to be an architect, but switched to studying art in 1892. He married Lydia Austin in 1895 and left for a second trip to Europe. On returning, he worked as an illustrator in inks only. Like many young artists, he struggled to make a living.

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He fell ill with tuberculosis in 1900, and then suffered a nervous breakdown. On doctor's orders, he went to stay at Saranac Lake, NY, where he switched to oil painting. This was his making, as he quickly started using the brilliant colours that became his trademark. Still sick with TB, he was sent to Arizona, and completed a commission of drawings of impressive landscapes there. With another trip to Europe on commission, his career was made.

Maxfield's studio was at his house, The Oaks, in Cornish, New Hampshire, and there they entertained many guests in summer. But in frozen winter, Parrish worked steadily.

In 1905, the Parrish's hired a 16-year old girl, Susan Lewin, to look after their first child Dillwyn. But she quickly became his assistant, model and close companion. Not surprisingly then, Maxfield and Lydia became more distant, until 1911, when she left. But Susan stayed with Maxfield till the 1960s, when he had to stop painting.

Maxfield died in 1966 aged 95. He left behind a large collection of famous, dramatic images of fantasy and fairy tales, with pure, sharp, almost psychedelic colours, though his early black and white illustrations are often forgotten today.