Park Scene

Maker Maurice Brazil Prendergast (American, 1859 - 1924)

Collections

American Paintings Selections

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Date1915

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensions20 1/4 x 24 1/4 in. (51.4 x 61.6 cm.)

Signedl.r.: PRENDERGAST

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Gift of the Virginia Steele Scott Foundation

Status

On view

Label TextMaurice Prendergast adapted the subject matter and techniques of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, which he encountered in Paris, into a unique and personal style. Using jewel-like colors, Prendergast created lyrical scenes of urban parks that resemble tapestries. He reduced the illusion of depth in his paintings by distributing areas of unmodulated color throughout the composition, outlining objects, and using distinct brushstrokes arranged uniformly on the surface of the canvas. The lack of shadows and the generalized figures also contribute to the flat appearance of the scene.

Prendergast participated in two groundbreaking exhibitions that helped introduce America to modern art: the 1908 exhibition of "The Eight" and the 1913 Armory Show, both in New York City. The year after the Armory Show, Prendergast moved from his native Massachusetts to New York, where he and friends, including Arthur B. Davies, Alfred Maurer, and Max Weber, became the first generation of American Modernists.

Object number83.8.40