Lady with Handkerchief

Dressed in cold-weather outdoor attire that includes a muff, the young woman in Maurice Prendergast's Lady with Handkerchief (CR 1571) holds a handkerchief to her chin in a demure gesture.  Although her elaborately netted hat now appears brown, traces of blue pigment still can be seen. The lines of the netting and the figure's facial features were added in pencil after the monotype was printed. These delicate yet deliberate pencil markings contrast with the deftly wiped triangular shape that indicates the handkerchief. Lady with Handkerchief was printed on a large sheet along with Lady with Umbrella (TF 1999.115, CR 1572), but the two works were separated after the artist's death. Although the dresses in each are printed in different colors, both images have the reticulated or grainy surface that indicates the use of printer's ink rather than oil paint as the medium. Both also bear Prendergast's intricate monogram in the lower right corner in pencil. The altered state of the sheet suggests that the monograms were added after the monotypes were separated. This is not the only example of the later manipulation of a Prendergast monotype. Venetian Court (TF 1999.124, CR 1706) and Venetian Well (TF 1992.115, CR 1705) were likewise printed on a single sheet that was then divided.

  Lady with Handkerchief and Lady with Umbrella apparently were the first products of Prendergast's decade-long exploration of a solitary female figure isolated against the pristine surface of the paper. Prendergast's familiarity with Japanese prints, which he acquired during his art studies in Boston, is evident in his emulation of their delicate aesthetics, particularly the treatment of the figure as a flat shape against an unspecified background.

  The Terra Collection of Prendergast monotypes includes a group of images that celebrate the fashionably dressed solitary female figure. In addition to Lady with Handkerchief, they include Green Dress (TF 1999.114, CR 1574), The Red Cape (TF 1992.102, CR 1580), Red Haired Lady with Hat (TF 1992.103, CR 1576), The Opera Cloak (TF 1992.97, CR 1693), Lady in Pink (TF 1992.89, CR 1741), Lady in Hat and Green Cape (TF 1992.88, CR 1733), Young Woman with Muff (TF 1992.121, CR 1731), and Woman in a Blue Dress with White Boa and Large Red Hat (TF 1992.118, CR 1745). For more information, see Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Charles Prendergast: A Catalogue Raisonné (1990), to which the CR numbers for the monotypes noted above refer.

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.]

Un regard américain sur Paris (An American Glance at Paris), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 11–October 31, 1997.

American Artists and the Paris Experience, 1880–1910, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 22, 1997–March 8, 1998.

Langdale, Cecily. The Monotypes of Maurice Prendergast. (exh. cat., Davis & Long Company). New York: Davis & Long Company, 1979. Ill. no. 6, p. 40 (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. 12, 25, 32, 37, 39, 54; ill. no. 4, p. 55 (color).

Richard, Paul. "The Shadow of Duncan Phillips." Washington Post (January 25, 1985): C: 1, 6. Text p. C6.

"Prendergast Monotypes to be at Whitney Museum." Antiques & the Arts Weekly (February 27, 1987): 13. Text p. 13.

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. 1571, p. 576; ill. no. 1571, p. 576 (black & white).

Reymond, Nathalie. Un regard américain sur Paris (An American Glance at Paris). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1997. Ill. p. 80 (color).