Marine Park

In Maurice Prendergast's monotype Marine Park (CR 1680), orange-red umbrellas brighten the light-washed scene of a bright summer's day at the shore, one of the artist's favorite subjects.  In the foreground, the late afternoon sun casts long shadows from the figures sitting on benches along the planked boardwalk, which recedes into the distance.  The white dress of a girl holding a doll contrasts sharply with the subdued garb of the seated women.  A wicker baby carriage suggests that at least one of them may be a hired nanny while a fluttering flag and distant sailboats hint at lively ocean breezes.

The remarkable intricate detail of this image contradicts the usual notion of the monotype as a spontaneously made artwork and verifies this work's creation in the studio.  On the print's matrix, Prendergast scraped away pigment in minute areas to indicate slats on the wooden chair, the curving rope railing following the boardwalk, and the delicate pink light cast on the woman's face through the red umbrella.  On the bottom edge of the dark-green line border framing the composition, he used a similar technique to create a decorative dashed line.

Prendergast expert Cecily Langdale suggests the alternative title of Afternoon, based on her deduction that a contemporary critic's description of "women and children on a bench with a quiet atmosphere," is a match for this monotype.  If so, the monotype was likely exhibited as Afternoon in a 1900 Macbeth Gallery show in New York and a 1900 Art Institute of Chicago exhibition.  There is an interesting comparison of the artist's earlier approach to the motif-a row of nursemaids on a bench with children-in The Luxembourg Garden, Paris (TF 1992.68).

Prendergast was a connoisseur of Boston beaches, visiting them frequently and repeatedly inspired by visitors' interactions with the ocean setting.  Here he chose Marine Park, a small green space in South Boston directly east of Telegraph Hill that curves three-quarters around Pleasure Bay.  By walking along either the park's sandy beach or its wooden plank boardwalk, a view of Fort Independence on Castle Island can be seen on the distant horizon.  Marine Park belongs to the "Shore Promenades" series of monotypes, in which adults are pleasurably enjoying the bay or ocean shore. 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] Catalogue of an Exhibition of the Works of Hermann Dudley Murphy and of the Works of Maurice B. Prendergast, The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, January 3–28, 1900 (perhaps as no. 84, Afternoon).

[possibly exhibited] Exhibition of Watercolors and Monotypes in Color by Maurice B. Prendergast, Macbeth Gallery, New York, New York, March 9–24, 1900 (perhaps as no. 36, Afternoon).

[possibly exhibited] Monotypes in Color by Maurice Prendergast, C. W. Kraushaar Galleries, New York, New York, December 8–31, 1936 (perhaps as no. 24).

[possibly exhibited] Special Exhibition of Monotypes by Maurice Brazil Prendergast, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., March 28–May 9, 1937 (perhaps as no. 15, Marine Park, Boston).

[possibly exhibited] 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 (perhaps as no. 95, Marine Park, Boston). [exh. cat.]

[possibly exhibited] Special Exhibition of Watercolors and Monotypes by Maurice B. Prendergast, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., October 18–November 16, 1939 (perhaps as no. 26, Marine Park, Boston).

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.] 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.]

The Work of Charles and Maurice Prendergast, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 16–April 21, 1991.

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.]

Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Prints: Catalogue Number 9. New York: David Tunick, Inc., 1977. Ill. no. 181 (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. 37, 110; ill. no. 32, p. 111 (color).

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. Pl. T-108, p. 217 (color).

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. 1680, p. 607; ill. no. 1680, p. 606 (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 pp. 10, 166; pl. 6, p. 40 (color).