Opal Sea

In Maurice Prendergast's Opal Sea, promenading ladies in long full skirts, bare-limbed girls seated or standing on the sand, and three donkeys bearing riders create a colorful spectacle on the beach overlooking a calm sea dotted with vessels. Overhead, the blue fair-weather sky is streaked with thin clouds. Diffused sunlight casts a glow over the scene and shimmers in a long puddle in the foreground. Against the series of horizontal bands comprising the open composition, the vertical figures create a rhythm of overlapping forms as people and donkeys progress along the beach in either direction.

During Prendergast's pivotal 1907 visit to France, he encountered the work of a variety of avant-garde artists and the art of recently deceased French painter Paul Cézanne (1839–1906). These influences impelled him not only to concentrate more on oil painting but also to experiment with expressive brushwork and an emphasis on overall composition rather than individual figures and other forms. Opal Sea may be a composite of several sites, including the northwestern French coastal town of St. Malo, on whose famous beach donkeys could be hired; beaches in Italy, which the artist visited in 1898–99; and beaches near the artist's hometown of Boston.

Opal Sea is a transitional work in Prendergast's evolution as a modernist artist challenging conventions of representation and technique. It is substantially larger than his earlier oils, but as in those works the figures are small in relation to the composition. Here, the artist applied color in complex, densely textured layers of divided strokes and spots. Underlying color is visible between the top strokes, blurring the outlines of the figures and integrating them arbitrarily into the often distant background so as to undermine the illusion of spatial depth.

The title Opal Sea was given by the painting's first owner, Prendergast's friend Charles Hovey Pepper, in reference to the luminous brilliance of its color. In 1910, Pepper photographed the work in the artist's studio in preparation for an article about him for the magazine The World Today. Prendergast rarely dated his creations and he is known to have made a practice of continuing to add to his oil paintings over a period of several years, making dating them difficult. Pepper's photograph shows the canvas in its final state, however, allowing a definitive ending date of 1910 and documenting an important shift in the artist's work.

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

An Independent Exhibition of the Paintings and Drawings of Twelve Men, Gallery of the Society of Beaux Arts Architects, New York, New York, March 26–April 20, 1911, no. 4.

Maurice Prendergast 1861–1924: A Memorial Exhibition, The Harvard Society for Contemporary Art, Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 9–June 1929, no. 13.

Maurice Prendergast Memorial Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York (organizer). Venue: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, February 21–March 22, 1934, no. 44.

The Prendergasts: Retrospective Exhibition of the Work of Maurice and Charles Prendergast, Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, September 24–November 6, 1938, no. 74. [exh. cat.]

Exhibition, San Francisco Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California, 1949 (as Summer on the Beach).

Maurice Prendergast: Art of Impulse and Color, University of Maryland Art Gallery, College Park, Maryland (organizer). Venues: University of Maryland Art Gallery, College Park, Maryland, September 1–October 6, 1976; University Art Museum, Austin, Texas, October 17–November 21, 1976; Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa, December 1, 1976–January 2, 1977; Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, Ohio, January 14–February 20, 1977; Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, New York, March 1–April 15, 1977. [exh. cat.]

Maurice Prendergast, Davis & Long Company, New York, New York, May 4–28, 1977.

American Paintings from the Collection of Daniel J. Terra, Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania (organizer). Venue: Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, June 5–July 17, 1977. [exh. cat.]

American Impressionism, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (organizer). Venues: Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, January 3–March 2, 1980; Frederick S. Wight Gallery, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, March 9–May 4, 1980; Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, May 16–June 22, 1980; The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Massachusetts, July 1–August 31, 1980. [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.

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.

Maurice Prendergast, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts (organizer). Venues: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, May 31-September 2, 1990; Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts, October 6–December 16, 1990; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, February 21–April 22, 1991; The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., May 18–August 25, 1991. [exh. cat.]

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.

Selected Works from the Collections: Two Hundred Years of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–August 27, 1997.

Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 1998.

Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900 (Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2000. [exh. cat.]

Selections from the Permanent Collection: Art and Craft, The Work of Charles and Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 10–September 16, 2001.

D'une colonie à une collection: le Musée d'Art Américain Giverny fête ses dix ans (From a Colony to a Collection: Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 30–June 16, 2002.

A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003 (on exhibit extended run: November 2, 2002–March 2, 2003).

A Narrative of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 13–October 31, 2004.

Expanded Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, April 15, 2005–2015.

Rhys, Hedley Howell. Maurice Prendergast: The Sources and Development of His Style. PhD dissertation, Harvard University, 1952. Text p. 151.

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, 114, 115; ill. no. 49, p. 2 (color).

The Magazine Antiques 59:4 (April 1976): 655. Ill. p. 655 (color).

Driscoll, John Paul. American Paintings from the Collection of Daniel J. Terra. (exh. cat., Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University). University Park, Pennsylvania: Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, 1977. Ill. (black & white).

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Green, Eleanor. "Maurice Prendergast, Myth and Reality." American Art Review 4:1 (July 1977): 89–103. Text pp. 93–94; ill. p. 94.

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Adams, Henry. "Private Collector to Public Champion." Portfolio Magazine 5:1 (January/February 1983): 48–53. Ill. pp. 52-53 (color).

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. 15, 17; fig. 13, p. 30 (black & white).

Wilson, MaLin. "The American Scene: Visions of Never-Never Land." [Amtrak] Express 6 (June–July 1986): 29. Ill. p. 29.

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-116, p. 225 (color).

The Unknown Pastels: Maurice Brazil Prendergast. (exh. cat., Coe Kerr Gallery). New York: Coe Kerr Gallery, 1987. Text pp. 10–11; fig. 4, p. 11 (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. 120, pp. 238–39; ill. no. 120, p. 238 (black & white) .

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 pp. 27, 186 (checklist); pl. 66, p. 111 (color).

Gerdts, William H. et al. Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 95; fig. 95, p. 96 (black & white).

Gerdts, William H. et al. Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 95; fig. 95, p. 96 (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. 60 (color).

Opal Sea, Maurice Brazil Prendergast. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 1998. Ill. (black & white).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. An American Point of View: The Daniel J. Terra Collection. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 140, 203; ill. pp. 141 (color), 203 (black & white).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Un regard transatlantique. La collection d'art américain de Daniel J. Terra. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 140, 203; ill. pp. 141 (color), 203 (black & white).

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Sansom Foundation, Inc. The World of William Glackens, Vol. 2. West Haven, CT: GHP Media. Distributed by ARTBOOK/D.A.P., 2017. Ill. p. 136 (color).