Lot Essay
This watercolor, executed circa 1900-03, bears a watercolor sketch, New England Beach Scene, on the reverse.
Refreshed from his travels in Italy where he produced some of his greatest works in watercolor, Maurice Prendergast returned to the United States and continued to explore the medium in which he had achieved such extraordinary success. Describing Prendergast's watercolors executed soon after his return from Italy, Richard J. Wattenmaker has written, "Inspired rather than intimidated, immediately after his return Maurice brought to bear on his work the capacity for clear organization that he had demonstrated in the practical sphere and turned what Barbara Novak has called his 'formidable intelligence' to painting. The critical success he enjoyed did not turn his head or seduce him to coast through a career of satisfying the cautious public by giving it what it had been led to expect. . . He had learned in Italy what the Post-Impressionists had learned in the Louvre -- that Impressionism, in all its gloriously colorful aspects, was an insufficiently broad foundation for an artist. He knew, as he studied the achievements of the Italian masters, that the ease and control over the medium of watercolor that he had so mastered was merely a point of departure for the new and more difficult tasks that he would set for himself. With the determination that was intergral to his personality, he began to approach painting in the same spirit." (R.J. Wattenmaker, Maurice Prendergast, New York, 1994, p. 59)
Central Park, New York City, July 4th exhibits characteristics that link the work with Prendergast's Italian efforts, but at the same time it reveals how the artist was consciously refashioning his art and taking it in new directions. Similar to many of his Venetian paintings, Central Park, New York City, July 4th is an investigation of an urban celebration. In Venice he had painted both solemn ecclesiastical processions as well as vibrant scenes along the city's canals and narrow streets. Once reestablished in the United States, Prendergast frequently made visits to New York, where he observed and recorded in similar scintillating washes the vitality of the great American metropolis during its most important national patriotic holiday.
In Central Park, New York City, July 4th, Prendergast began to explore a new approach to watercolor painting. Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr. writes, "As he went on, Prendergast sought increasing unity of tone and brush handling in his work. In Central Park, New York City, July 4th . . . one sees significant changes of approach: pencil strokes are barely visible, intensity of hues has been lowered -- his favorite bright primaries nearly given up altogether -- and one has instead a rich tonal study in blues and greens, with occasional dashes of yellows, browns, and violets. The paper's whiteness is still used effectively, though on a more limited basis; swirling brush strokes are enjoyed for themselves; and the scene becomes even flatter and more abstract." (T.E. Stebbins, Jr., American Master Drawings and Watercolors, New York, 1976, pp. 248-249)
For the majority of Prendergast's New York watercolors, the artist used Central Park as his subject matter, although other sites such as Madison Square also attracted him. Prendergast concentrated on the area of the park near the Mall, whose formal design provided brilliant counterpoint to the artist's dynamic compositions. In Central Park, New York City, July 4th the tree trunks establish a rhythm across the surface of the sheet, and bold touches of color seen in the foliage above create visual interest. At the bottom of the composition children dash across the lawn. As always, Prendergast manipulates the medium with extraordinary control and allows the fluid washes to coalesce in an effortless display of color and movement.
Refreshed from his travels in Italy where he produced some of his greatest works in watercolor, Maurice Prendergast returned to the United States and continued to explore the medium in which he had achieved such extraordinary success. Describing Prendergast's watercolors executed soon after his return from Italy, Richard J. Wattenmaker has written, "Inspired rather than intimidated, immediately after his return Maurice brought to bear on his work the capacity for clear organization that he had demonstrated in the practical sphere and turned what Barbara Novak has called his 'formidable intelligence' to painting. The critical success he enjoyed did not turn his head or seduce him to coast through a career of satisfying the cautious public by giving it what it had been led to expect. . . He had learned in Italy what the Post-Impressionists had learned in the Louvre -- that Impressionism, in all its gloriously colorful aspects, was an insufficiently broad foundation for an artist. He knew, as he studied the achievements of the Italian masters, that the ease and control over the medium of watercolor that he had so mastered was merely a point of departure for the new and more difficult tasks that he would set for himself. With the determination that was intergral to his personality, he began to approach painting in the same spirit." (R.J. Wattenmaker, Maurice Prendergast, New York, 1994, p. 59)
Central Park, New York City, July 4th exhibits characteristics that link the work with Prendergast's Italian efforts, but at the same time it reveals how the artist was consciously refashioning his art and taking it in new directions. Similar to many of his Venetian paintings, Central Park, New York City, July 4th is an investigation of an urban celebration. In Venice he had painted both solemn ecclesiastical processions as well as vibrant scenes along the city's canals and narrow streets. Once reestablished in the United States, Prendergast frequently made visits to New York, where he observed and recorded in similar scintillating washes the vitality of the great American metropolis during its most important national patriotic holiday.
In Central Park, New York City, July 4th, Prendergast began to explore a new approach to watercolor painting. Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr. writes, "As he went on, Prendergast sought increasing unity of tone and brush handling in his work. In Central Park, New York City, July 4th . . . one sees significant changes of approach: pencil strokes are barely visible, intensity of hues has been lowered -- his favorite bright primaries nearly given up altogether -- and one has instead a rich tonal study in blues and greens, with occasional dashes of yellows, browns, and violets. The paper's whiteness is still used effectively, though on a more limited basis; swirling brush strokes are enjoyed for themselves; and the scene becomes even flatter and more abstract." (T.E. Stebbins, Jr., American Master Drawings and Watercolors, New York, 1976, pp. 248-249)
For the majority of Prendergast's New York watercolors, the artist used Central Park as his subject matter, although other sites such as Madison Square also attracted him. Prendergast concentrated on the area of the park near the Mall, whose formal design provided brilliant counterpoint to the artist's dynamic compositions. In Central Park, New York City, July 4th the tree trunks establish a rhythm across the surface of the sheet, and bold touches of color seen in the foliage above create visual interest. At the bottom of the composition children dash across the lawn. As always, Prendergast manipulates the medium with extraordinary control and allows the fluid washes to coalesce in an effortless display of color and movement.