MAURICE BRAZIL PRENDERGAST (1859-1924)
MAURICE BRAZIL PRENDERGAST (1859-1924)
MAURICE BRAZIL PRENDERGAST (1859-1924)
MAURICE BRAZIL PRENDERGAST (1859-1924)
3 More
MAURICE BRAZIL PRENDERGAST (1859-1924)

Figures on the Beach

Details
MAURICE BRAZIL PRENDERGAST (1859-1924)
Figures on the Beach
signed 'Prendergast' (lower right)
watercolor, gouache and pencil on paper
13 ¾ x 20 in. (34.9 x 50.8 cm.)
Executed circa 1907.
Provenance
Lillie P. Bliss, New York.
Private collection, by descent from the above.
Adelson Galleries, Inc., New York.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1996.
Literature
C. Clark, N.M. Mathews and G. Owens, Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Charles Prendergast: A Catalogue Raisonné, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 1990, p. 433, no. 884, illustrated.
Exhibited
Katonah, New York, Katonah Gallery, Maurice Prendergast: American Painter, 1959-1924, October 14-November 13, 1962, no. 3 (as Seaside).

Brought to you by

Quincie Dixon
Quincie Dixon Associate Specialist, Head of Sale

Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

Sign in
View condition report

Lot Essay

Painted around the time of his pivotal trip to Paris in 1907, the present work depicts a stunning coastal scene executed with the lively brushwork and mastery of color that established Maurice Prendergast as a leading watercolorist of the 20th Century. Considered the first American to champion the art of Cézanne in America, Prendergast found profound inspiration in the work of the Post-Impressionist masters which, despite his self-taught background, played a significant role in his painting career from 1907 onward, as indicated by the present work.

Figures on the Beach was originally owned by Lillie P. Bliss, an avid proponent and collector of modern art. Alongside Abby Aldrich Rockefeller and Mary Quinn Sullivan, Bliss founded New York's Museum of Modern Art, where she endowed a large part of her collection following her death.

More from Modern American Art

View All
View All