Evening, South Boston Pier

Maurice Prendergast's monotype Evening, South Boston Pier (CR 1684) features one of the artist's favorite motifs: a dramatic serpentine curve, which comprises a series within his monotypes and another in his watercolors.  Here, it appears in the railing that, along with the rhythm of pier struts and lamp poles, provides a foil for the central figure of a woman who clutches her hat and cape against a strong ocean breeze as she walks toward the viewer.  The outline of her figure in her windblown garments and the echoing curves of the railing create a sensual effect.  The tipped-up perspective and flattened pictorial space, in which the figure seems to be pushed toward the viewer, as well as the decorative patterning of repeated geometric elements, emphasize the abstract qualities of the composition, further enhanced by the muted colors appropriate to the nighttime setting.

The monotype's surface is disfigured by an extensive spattering of spots, which are presumably the result of the specific mixture of printer's ink and the binding medium.  While a reticulated surface is normal when using printer's ink, the effects vary based on the quality of the color pigments and the binding medium. The artist applied a blue-line border around the image and later inscribed his three-initial monogram over the border in the far left corner.  Written in ink over graphite underneath the bottom border is the title of the work, probably added later by someone else.

This work may be identical with a monotype entitled Evening on the Pier, which was exhibited in Prendergast's solo exhibition at the Detroit Museum of Art in 1901. Evening, South Boston Pier was bought by or given to Prendergast's friend, artist Daphne Dunbar, who also owned Woman on Ship Deck (TF 1992.120, CR 1586).   Evening, South Boston Pier is an excellent example of a monotype from Prendergast’s "Solitary Woman" series. For more information, see Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Charles Prendergast: A Catalogue Raisonné (1990), to which the CR numbers for the monotypes noted above refer.

[possibly exhibited] Special Exhibition of Water Colors and Monotypes by Mr. Maurice B. Prendergast, Detroit Museum of Art, Detroit, Michigan, November 1901 (perhaps as nos. 33, 34, or 57, Evening on the Pier).

The Monotypes of Maurice Prendergast: A Loan Exhibition, Davis & Long Company, New York, New York, April 4–28, 1979. [exh. cat.]

Monotypes by Maurice Prendergast from the Terra Museum of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venues: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., January 27–April 14, 1985; Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, April 27–June 30, 1985; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, July 12–September 8, 1985; Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts, September 20–November 17, 1985; Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, Michigan, November 24, 1985–January 19, 1986; Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, January 28–February 24, 1986; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, May 13–June 15, 1986; Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, June 23–August 24, 1986; Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama, September 2–October 26, 1986; The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, November 2–30, 1986; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota, December 13, 1986–February 15, 1987; Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Florida, June 21–July 31, 1987; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio, August 8–September 27, 1987; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York, October 4–November 5, 1987; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 15, 1987–January 7, 1988; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, January 20–March 22, 1988; Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 9–May 29, 1988. [exh. cat.]

The Decorative Form: The Aesthetic Movement, Arts & Crafts and the Asian Influence in American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, September 16–December 5, 1999.

(Re)Presenting Women, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 16, 2001–January 13, 2002.

Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, May 2004.

Langdale, Cecily. The Monotypes of Maurice Prendergast. (exh. cat., Davis & Long Company). New York: Davis & Long Company, 1979. Text pp. 12, 13; ill. no. 46, p. 81 (black & white).

Langdale, Cecily. Monotypes by Maurice Prendergast in the Terra Museum of American Art. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Museum of American Art, 1984. Text pp. 34, 35, 37, 92, 96; ill. no. 23, p. 93 (color).

"Experimentation with Modernism: Museum Exhibit to Display 55 Prendergast Monotypes." [North Adams] Transcript (September 13, 1985): 6. Text p. 6.

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. 1684, p. 608–609; ill. no. 1684, p. 608 (black & white).