Salem Willows

Crowded with brightly dressed pleasure-seekers, the seaside park in Maurice Prendergast's Salem Willows is a tapestry of divided short strokes of pigment, at once a picture of joyful leisure and a flat surface enlivened by abstract decoration. Dressed in the voluminous fashions of the day, women, children, and a few men mingle, stroll, rest on one of several benches facing the sea, or stand at the shore gazing out toward the many fully rigged sailing vessels on the sea's pale yellow surface. The sky with its puffy fair-weather clouds is painted in strokes and dabs of yellow-white, pale pink, and light blue. Stronger color appears in the red and blue of women's dresses and parasols and in the dark green of the tall trees framing the scene on either side.

Salem Willows, in Salem, Massachusetts, some twenty-five miles from Prendergast's hometown of Boston, was a seaside municipal park established in 1858. Streetcar lines drew visitors from Boston's North Shore to enjoy a carousel and the promenade beneath the century-old white willow trees originally planted to shade the shoreline for convalescing patients from a nearby smallpox hospital. The park was Prendergast's inspiration for numerous oil and watercolor paintings, offering the spectacle of gaily dressed urbanites in a parkland setting against the backdrop of open water dotted with ships and boats. Indeed, these features of Salem Willows are echoed in numerous works by Prendergast depicting other locales, such as his earlier paintings of views from Boston's Telegraph Hill (TF 1999.119a and TF 1999.119b).

Prior to 1909, Prendergast devoted himself to watercolor painting and the experimental medium of monotype printmaking, and for the few oil paintings he made he preferred wood panels to canvas supports. In his earliest oil paintings, Prendergast handled pigment much as he did watercolor: applying it in thin, fluid strokes. In Salem Willows, however, he layered pigment for a more complex textural effect, anticipating the thickly built-up paint that became his hallmark in the first decade of the new century as he virtually dissolved his images in dense tapestries of color.

This work is dated 1904. However, in 1901 and 1902, Prendergast contributed a work or works entitled Salem Willows to five separate important national exhibitions, leading scholars to speculate that this is a work of 1901 to which the artist added the date three years later. In the intervening years, he painted several scenes whose features, if not their titles, connect them to Salem Willows park, and he returned to paint that setting again as late as the mid-1910s.

[possibly exhibited] Twenty-third Exhibition of the Society of American Artists, Society of American Artists, New York, New York, March 30–May 4, 1901 (perhaps as no. 339).

[possibly exhibited] Third Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings, Worcester Art, Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts, June 3–October 14, 1901 (perhaps as no. 169).

[possibly exhibited] The Catalogue of the Sixth Annual International Exhibition, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 7, 1901–January 1, 1902 (perhaps as no. 183).

[possibly exhibited] Ninth Annual Exhibition of American Art, Cincinnati Museum Association, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 17–July 7, 1902 (perhaps as no. 222, Salem Williams). [exh. cat.]

[possibly exhibited] Catalogue of the Seventy-first Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 20–March 1, 1902 (perhaps as no. 4).

Exhibition of Paintings by Charles Hopkinson, Charles Hovey Pepper, Maurice Prendergast, Boston Copley Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, March 13–25, 1911, no. 12.

An Exhibition of American Art, Harvard Society for Contemporary Art, Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 9–June 1929 (as Promenade).

Maurice Prendergast Memorial Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, February 21–March 22, 1934, no. 128 (as Promenade). [exh. cat.]

Maurice Prendergast, 1859–1924, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts (organizer). Venues: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, October 26–December 4, 1960; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, December 29, 1960–February 5, 1961; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, February 21–April 2, 1961; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California, April 22–June 3, 1961; Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, June 20–July 30, 1961. [exh. cat.]

Masterworks in American Art from the Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, April 27–September 12, 1985.

The Bostonians: Painters of an Elegant Age, 1870–1930, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts (organizer). Venues: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, June 11–September 14, 1986; Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado, October 25, 1986–January 18, 1987; Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, March 10–May 10, 1987. [exh. cat.]

A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 21–June 21, 1987. [exh. cat.]

Selections from the Permanent Collection: Americans at Home and Abroad, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 6–29, 1987.

Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, July 1989.

Painters of a New Century: The Eight, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September 6–November 3, 1991; Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado, December 7, 1991–February 1, 1992; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, April 16–June 7, 1992; The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, June 26–September 21, 1992.

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.

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.

Ships at Sea: Sailing Through Summer, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer).  Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, June 6–August 26, 2001.

American Classics: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 26–September 1, 2002.

Deux collections en regard: oeuvres de la Terra Foundation for the Arts et du Detroit Institute of Arts (Side by Side: Works from the Terra Foundation for the Arts and the Detroit Institute of Arts), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 2–June 1, 2003. [exh. cat.]

Les artistes américaines et le Louvre (American Artists and the Louvre), Musée du Louvre, Paris, France and Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venue: Musée du Louvre, Paris, France, June 14–September 18, 2006. [exh. cat.]

Manifest Destiny, Manifest Responsibility: Environmentalism and the Art of the American Landscape.  Terra Foundation  for American Art, Chicago, Illinois and Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venue: Loyola University Museum of Art,  May 17–August 10, 2008. [exh. cat.]

The Eight and American Modernisms, Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, and Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (organizers). Venues: New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, March 6–May 24, 2009; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 6–August 23, 2009. [exh. cat]

Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, December 2010-June 2011.

Art Across America, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; National Museum of Korea, Seoul, South Korea; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venues: National Museum of Korea, Seoul, February 4– May 12, 2013; Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon, South Korea,  June 7–September 1, 2013. [exh. cat.]

America: Painting a Nation,  Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (organizers). Venue: Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, November 9, 2013–February 8, 2014. [exh. cat]

Monet and American Impressionism, Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, Florida in partnership with Telfair Museums, Savannah, Georgia and Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee (organizers). Venues: Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, Florida,  February 3–May 24, 2015; Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee, June 27–September 20, 2015; Telfair Museum's Jepson Center for the Arts, Savannah, Georgia, October 16, 2015–January 24, 2016. [exh. cat.]

In the Streets: Modern Life and Urban Experiences in the Art of the United States, 1893-1976 (Pelas ruas: vida moderna e experiências urbanas na arte dos Estados Unidos, 1893–1976). Terra Foundation for American Art and Pinacoteca de São Paulo (organizers). Venue: Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, August 27, 2022–January 30, 2023. [exh. cat.]

 

"Annual Exhibition at the Academy." Philadelphia Inquirer (January 19, 1902): II: 12. Text p. 12 (perhaps reference to Terra painting).

Edgerton, Giles [Mary Fanton Roberts]. "The Younger American Painters: Are They Creating a National Art?" Craftsman 13 (February 1908): 512–32. Ill. p. 525 (as The Promenade).

"'The Eight' Stir Up Many Emotions." Newark Evening News (May 8, 1909): 4. Ill. p. 4.

Pepper, Charles Hovey. "Is Drawing to Disappear in Artistic Individuality?" The World To-Day 19 (July 1910): 716–19. Text p. 719.

Cary, Elizabeth Luther. "The Maurice Prendergast Memorial Exhibition." New York Times (February 25, 1934): X: 12. Text p. 12X.

Rhys, Hedley Howell. Maurice Prendergast: The Sources and Development of His Style. PhD dissertation, Harvard University, 1952. Text pp. 31, 87–88, 93, 128, 152.

"Prendergast-Country's First Modern Artist." Boston Sunday Herald (October 23, 1960): 32. Ill. p. 32.

Rhys, Hedley Howell. Maurice Prendergast, 1859–1924. (exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts). Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Harvard University Press, 1960. Text p. 40, 69 (checklist); ill. no. 12, p. 114 (black & white).

Green, Eleanor. Maurice Prendergast: Art of Impulse and Color. (exh. cat., University of Maryland Art Gallery). College Park, Maryland: University of Maryland, 1976. Text pp. 22, 43, 44, 48, 115; ill. p. 22 (black & white).

Green, Eleanor. "Maurice Prendergast, Myth and Reality." American Art Review 4 (July 1977): 89–103. Text p. 90.

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 p. 144.

Sokol, David M. "The Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois." The Magazine Antiques 126:5 (November 1984): 1156–69. Pl. XXV, p. 1166 (color).

Fairbrother, Trevor J. et al. The Bostonians: Painters of an Elegant Age, 1870–1930. (exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts). Boston, Massachusetts: Museum of Fine Arts, 1986. Ill. no. 52, p.141 (black & white).

Strickler, Susan E. American Traditions in Watercolor: The Worcester Art Museum Collection. Worcester, Massachusetts: The Worcester Art Museum Collection, 1987. Text p. 142.

Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Text p. 35; pl. T-117, p. 226 (color).

Salem Willows, Maurice Brazil Prendergast. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, July 1989. Ill. (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. 46, p. 223; pl. 37, p. 144 (color), ill. no. 46, p. 233.

Mathews, Nancy Mowll. Maurice Prendergast. (exh. cat., Williams College Museum of Art). Munich, Germany and Williamstown, Massachusetts: Prestel-Verlag and The President and Trustees of Williams College, 1990. Text p. 19; fig. 13, p. 19 (black & white).

Milroy, Elizabeth. Painters of a New Century: The Eight. (exh. cat., Milwaukee Art Museum). Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Milwaukee Art Museum, 1991. Text p. 141 (checklist); ill. p. 50 (color).

Wattenmaker, Richard J. Maurice Prendergast. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers in association with The National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1994. Text pp. 72–73; ill. p. 10 (color), pl. 51, p. 73 (black & white).

Regard sur cinq années d'expositions (Five years of Exhibitions at a Glance). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1997. Ill. p. 58 (color).

Side by Side: Works from the Terra Foundation for the Arts and the Detroit Institute of Arts. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2003. Text p. 17; ill. p. 16 (color).

Deux collections en regard: oeuvres de la Terra Foundation for the Arts et du Detroit Institute of Arts. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2003. Text p. 17; ill. p. 16 (color).

Kennedy, Elizabeth. "American Artists and the Louvre." American Art Review (June 2006): 98–107. Text p. 103; ill. p. 103 (color).

Kennedy, Elizabeth et al. The Eight and American Modernisms. (exh. cat., New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut and Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2009. Text pp. 111-112, 175 (checklist); Ill. p. 124 (color).Román, Dulce M. Monet and American Impressionism. (exh. cat. Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville). Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida, 2015. Ill. p. 139 (color).

Art Across America. (exh. cat., National Museum of Korea, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Terra Foundation for American Art). Seoul, South Korea: National Museum of Korea, 2013. (English and Korean versions). Text pp. 39, 267; ill. fig. 43, p. 39 (color), p. 266 (color).

America: Painting a Nation. (exh. cat., Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the National Museum of Korea, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Terra Foundation for American Art). Sydney, Australia: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2013. Text p. 162; ill. cat. no. 52, p. 163 (color).

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. 109; fig. 23, p. 109 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Peter John Brownlee, eds. Conversations with the Collection: A Terra Foundation Collection Handbook. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2018. Text p. 192; ill. p. 192 (color).

Piccoli, Valéria, Fernanda Pitta, and Taylor Poulin. Pelas ruas: vida moderna e experiências urbanas na arte dos Estados Unidos, 1893-1976. (exh. cat., Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo and Terra Foundation for American Art). São Paulo, Brazil: Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, 2022. Pl. p. 36 (color).