Telegraph Hill I

In Maurice Prendergast's monotype Telegraph Hill I (CR 1671) strong winds propel fully rigged sailing ships across dark green waters and lift the skirts of women and girls promenading on the expanse of a sandy beach.  Inspired by American expatriate artist James McNeill Whistler's marine paintings, the artist employed a tripartite band arrangement that delineates the sky, water, and beach, which can also be seen in At the Seashore (TF 1992.69, CR 1648).  The tipped-up perspective recalls the aesthetics of the Japanese woodblock prints that deeply influenced Prendergast and his contemporaries.

"Telegraph Hill" is written in the lower left corner of the monotype but without this title it is impossible to identify the exact location of this image.  In fact, it does not portray a hilltop view but a shore scene.  Decorative design, not reality, was Prendergast's objective so, perhaps, the artist represented the strollers from the beach at Marine Park, which is found at the base of the eastern slope of Telegraph Hill, while his memory lingered with thoughts of Telegraph Hill.

Telegraph Hill, the most elevated point in South Boston, was known as Dorchester Heights when it played an important role in the evacuation of the city by British forces in 1776.  By the 1850s, a residential neighborhood surrounded the park, which was famous for its views of the city and Old Harbor.  To celebrate the 126th anniversary of the Revolutionary War in 1900, the Dorchester Monument, a marble observation tower, was dedicated and the park was renamed for General John Thomas, commander of Dorchester's Revolutionary troops.

The artist created a second impression, or cognate, from the original matrix also called Telegraph Hill (Collection of Everett D. Reese, CR 1672).  He went on to produced five other monotypes showing essentially the same composition, including Telegraph Hill (TF 1992.110, CR 1674) and Telegraph Hill (Addison Gallery of American Art, CR 1675) —the latter smaller but otherwise identical to Telegraph Hill I.  In addition, he created two related oil paintings, Telegraph Hill (TF 1999. 119a) and Promenade with Parasols (TF 1999.119b), on either side of a single panel (later split into two individual works of art) of the same dimensions as the monotype Telegraph Hill I (approximately 15 x 15 inches).  For more information, see Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Charles Prendergast: A Catalogue Raisonné (1990), to which the CR numbers for the monotypes noted above refer.

Water Color Club: Fourteenth Annual Exhibition, Boston Art Club, Boston, Massachusetts, March 1–16, 1901.

Monotypes in Color by Maurice Prendergast, C. W. Kraushaar Art Galleries, New York, New York, December 8–31, 1936, no. 27.

Special Exhibition of Monotypes by Maurice Brazil Prendergast, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., March 28–May 9, 1937, no. 19.

Regard sur Maurice Brazil Prendergast (Maurice Brazil Prendergast at a Glance), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 1993. Maurice Prendergast: By the Sea, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine (organizer). Venue: Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine, June 29–October 13, 2013. [exh. cat.]

Sotheby's New York, New York (Sale 5457, May 15–16, 1986): lot 135. Text lot 135; ill. cover (color), lot 135 (black & white).

Clark, Carol, Nancy Mowll Mathews and Gwendolyn Owens. Maurice Brazil Prendergast; Charles Prendergast: A Catalogue Raisonné. Munich, Germany, and Williamstown, Massachusetts: Prestel-Verlag and The President and Trustees of Williams College, 1990. No. 1671, p. 604; ill. no. 1671, p. 604 (black & white).

Homann, Joachim, Trevor J. Fairbrother, Nancy Mowill Mathews, Joseph J. Rishel and Richard J. Wattenmaker. Maurice Prendergast: By the Sea. (exh. cat., Bowdoin College Museum of Art). Brunswick, Maine: Bowdoin College Museum of Art and DelMonico Books, an imprint of Prestel Publishing, Munich, London and New York, 2013. Text p. 166; pl. 7, p. 41 (color).