Drinking next to the Pied Piper of Hamelin is ok, you are in a bar afterall!

Commissioned for the space above the bar at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

You can see the original letter asking Parrish for the painting here.  The painting was moved during the hotel’s renovations from 1989-1991 to the de Young Museum. Afterwards it went to the new bar adjacent to the original room, which was turned into a restaurant named Maxfield's, after the artist of course.

The artist had this to say about the effect of his painting on the bar patrons: ”When customers can no longer tell how many children they can count on the [pied piper], send them home to their families. A guest drawing a glass is apt to note a child in the painting that resembles a little one at home and then and there cancel their wish for an additional glass.”

The artist depicted himself as the Pied Piper and included his two sons as well.

The painting is worth an estimated $3-5 million, not a small amount for struggling hoteliers, and was very close to being auctioned off before public outcry forced the owners to change their minds.