Maurice Prendergast created all of his monotypes between 1891 and 1902. As with his paintings and watercolors, they typically depict elegant women and children in outdoor settings. It is not known just how or why Prendergast began making monotypes, however, as a young artist it is likely that both the freedom from expensive or cumbersome equipment and the potential for immediate results was appealing to him.
As with the lot offered here, Prendergast's monotypes are characterized by thin veils of oil painted in a fluid style on a smooth cooper plate and then transferred to fine quality Japanese paper. His "press" often consisted of just a spoon rubbed across the back of the sheet onto which he was printing. After pulling one impression, he would occasionally pull a cognate from the still-damp inks but each print is essentially unique. Sometimes, as here, Prendergast made small additions in graphite or colored pencils after printing the image.

Figures in the Park is one of Prendergast's largest monotypes. It is also noteworthy for its particularly rich colors and the clarity of its impression. In its compositional juxtaposition of the large scale mother and daughter standing in the foreground and numerous children playing on a distant hillside, Figures in the Park relates very closely to several monotypes depicting Boston Common made circa 1895-7. One of these is featured on the cover of the 1984 catalogue of the Terra Museum of American Art's renowned collection of Prendergast monotypes.