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(American, 1858–1924)

Franklin Park, Boston

c. 1895
Oil on panel
Image: 13 7/16 x 16 7/8 in. (34.1 x 42.9 cm.)
Frame: 20 x 23 1/2 in. (50.8 x 59.7 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1999.112
SignedLower left: Prendergast. (and M/B/P monogram)
Interpretation
Three women and numerous girls, all properly attired in hats for a day in the park, amuse themselves across open parkland in Maurice Prendergast's idyllic Franklin Park, Boston. Dotted with trees whose slender trunks and leaves cast a pattern across the sky, the landscape stretches toward a high horizon marked by a narrow band of bright blue, repeated in the blue shadows at the figures' feet that indicate a late afternoon setting. The red of a parasol held aloft by one of the women is echoed in her hat and in several balloons floating above the girls. Figures and landscape are broadly painted, simplified in an evocation of a child's naïve art. Such decorative so-called primitivism was a mark of modernism among Prendergast's artistic contemporaries.

Franklin Park was the last and the largest of the parks designed by master landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted for the so-called Emerald Necklace, a chain of parks, parkways, and waterways in Boston and nearby Brookline, Massachusetts. The park borders Boston's Roxbury neighborhood, where the artist, along with his brother Charles and their father, lived in 1895–96. The blue line along the horizon in this painting may refer humorously to Blue Hill Avenue, which runs along the park's eastern edge. Prendergast made several images showing Franklin Park, including one monotype, Spring in Franklin Park (TF 1992.106) and at least six watercolors, of which the Terra Foundation owns two (TF 1999.111 and TF 1999.113). This group of works demonstrate the artist's experimental method of exploring a subject across various media, an approach he also used in making an oil painting (TF 1999.119a) and two monotypes (TF 1992.110 and TF 1992.111) of Telegraph Hill.

By 1895, Prendergast was gaining recognition on the Boston art scene as an innovative painter of lively scenes of contemporary urban leisure rendered in decorative arrangements of spots of pure color. Before 1909, the artist worked mostly in watercolor painting and monotype printmaking, and his relatively rare oils, broadly painted in thinly applied pigment, typically share the intimate scale of his watercolor paintings. While the monotype Spring in Franklin Park demonstrates the influence of Japanese woodblock prints, which were critical to the development of Prendergast's aesthetic sensibility, in this oil painting of Franklin Park, the deliberate flatness of figures and setting and the spotted patterns of leaves, balloons, and heads evoke the works of French avant-garde painter Georges Seurat (1859–91). Prendergast likely saw an exhibition of Seurat’s work in Paris in 1892. At that time he may also have seen exhibitions of the works of the younger French painters known collectively as Les Nabis ("the prophets"), whose paintings, dense "tapestries" of spots emphasizing the flatness of the painting's surface, may have been another influence on Prendergast as he created Franklin Park, Boston.
ProvenanceThe artist
Charles Prendergast, 1924 (brother of the artist)
Mrs. Charles Prendergast, 1948 (wife of Charles Prendergast)
Kraushaar Galleries, New York, New York, 1953
Mr. and Mrs. Walter L. Ress, New York, 1953
John and Paul Herring, 1980
Davis & Long Company, New York, New York
Daniel J. Terra Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1980
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1999
Exhibition History
Fifty-seventh Exhibition: Oil Paintings and Sculpture, Boston Art Club, Boston, Massachusetts, January 22–February 19, 1898, no. 24.

Eleventh Annual Exhibition of Oil Painting and Sculpture by American Artists, The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, November 15–December 18, 1898, no. 230.

Sixty-eighth Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 16–February 25, 1899, no. 226.

Twenty-first Annual Exhibition of the Society of American Artists, Society of American Artists, New York, New York, March 25–April 29, 1899, no. 171.

Maurice Prendergast: Memorial Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, February 21–March 22, 1934, no. 67.

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. [exh. cat.]

Half a Century of American Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 1939–January 7, 1940. [exh. cat.]

Paintings by Maurice Prendergast, Kraushaar Art Galleries, New York, New York, March 18–April 10, 1940, no. 3.

The Eight, Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, Brooklyn, New York, November 24, 1943–January 16, 1944 (traveled), no. 44. [exh. cat.]

Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition: Paintings by American Artists 1896–1930, Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, Syracuse, New York, January 23–March 2, 1947, no. 27.

Maurice Prendergast Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings, Watercolors and Monotypes, Kraushaar Galleries, New York, New York, January 3–28, 1950, no. 1.

Maurice Prendergast, Margaret Brown Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, March 6–25, 1950.

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.]

Prendergast Exhibition, New York Cultural Center, New York, New York, 1970.

Charles Condor, Robert Henri, James Morrice, Maurice Prendergast: The Formative Years, Paris 1890s, Davis & Long Company, New York, New York, May 13–31, 1975. [exh. cat.]

Woman, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, February 21–April 22, 1984. [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.

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.

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.

Domestic Bliss: Family Life in American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–June 22, 1997.

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.

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).

Le Temps des loisirs : peintures américaines (At Leisure: American Paintings), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, July 15–October 31, 2007.
Published References
Kirshner, Judith Russi. "The Terra Collection." United: The Magazine of the Friendly Skies (December 1982): 52–59. Ill. p. 57 (color).

"Art Club Exhibition Opened." Boston Evening Transcript (January 22, 1898): 4. Text p. 4

Sawyer, Charles H. "The Prendergasts." Parnassus 10:5 (October 1938): 9-11. Ill. p. 11.

Brooks, Van Wyck. "Anecdotes of Maurice Prendergast." in The Prendergasts: Retrospective Exhibition of the Work of Maurice and Charles Prendergast. (exh. cat., Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy). Andover, Massachusetts: Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, 1938. Text p. 21 (checklist); ill. no. 65.

Half a Century of American Art. (exh. cat., The Art Institute of Chicago). Chicago, Illinois: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1939. Text p. 38 (checklist); pl. V, no. 130.

"Prendergast." Art Digest 14 (April 1, 1940): 9. Text p. 9.

Devree, Howard. "A Reviewer's Notebook." New York Times (March 24, 1940): X10. Text p. X10.

Lane, J. W. "Maurice Prendergast: An American Reviewed." Art News 38 (March 30, 1940): 15. Text p. 15.

Rhys, Hedley Howell. Maurice Prendergast: The Sources and Development of His Style. PhD dissertation, Harvard University, 1952. Text pp. 57, 110; ill. no. 6.

Adlow, Dorothy. "Boston Launches Prendergast Observances: Museum Celebrates Artist's Centennial." Christian Science Monitor (November 7, 1960): 7. Ill. p. 7.

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. No. 8, p. 68 (checklist); ill. no. 8, p. 112 (black & white).

Charles Condor, Robert Henri, James Morrice, Maurice Prendergast: The Formative Years, Paris 1890s. (exh. cat., Davis & Long Company). New York: Davis & Long Company, 1975. Ill. no. 37 (black & white).

Langdale, Cecily. "Maurice Prendergast, An American Post-Impressionist." The Connoisseur 202:814 (December 1979): 248–53. Text p. 252.

Glavin, Ellen M. "Maurice Prendergast: The Boston Experience." Art and Antiques (July–August 1982): 64–71. Text p. 68; ill. p. 69.

Kirshner, Judith Russi. "The Terra Collection." United: The Magazine of the Friendly Skies (December 1982): 57. Ill. p. 57.

Hemphill, Christopher. "Daniel Terra and His Museum." Arts and Antiques 7 (February 1984): 193–206. Text p. 195.

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, 13, 15, 41; fig. 5, p. 16 (black & white).

Nochlin, Linda. Woman. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Evanston, Illinois: Terra Museum of American Art, 1984. Ill. no. 45, p. 37 (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-105, p. 214 (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. 21, p. 216; ill. no. 21, p. 216 (black & white), pl. 7, p. 114 (color).

Southgate, M. Therese. "The Cover." The Journal of the American Medical Association 265 (June 26, 1991): 3213. Text p. 3213; ill. cover (color).

Southgate, M. Therese. The Art of JAMA III: Covers and Essays from the Journal of the American Medical Association. Chicago, Illinois: American Medical Association, 2011. Text p. 46; ill. opposite p. 46 (color).
Esplanade
Maurice Brazil Prendergast
c. 1891
Metadata embedded, 2021
Maurice Brazil Prendergast
1893–94
Metadata embedded, 2021
Maurice Brazil Prendergast
1901
metadata embedded, 2021
Maurice Brazil Prendergast
c. 1907
Metadata embedded, 2021
Maurice Brazil Prendergast
c. 1895–97
Metadata embedded, 2021
Maurice Brazil Prendergast
c. 1895–97
Metadata embedded, 2021
Maurice Brazil Prendergast
c. 1891–94
Metadata embedded, 2021
Maurice Brazil Prendergast
c. 1891–1894
Metadata embedded, 2021
Maurice Brazil Prendergast
c. 1895–97
Metadata embedded, 2021
Maurice Brazil Prendergast
c. 1895–97
Metadata embedded, 2021
Maurice Brazil Prendergast
1895
Metadata embedded, 2021
Maurice Brazil Prendergast
c. 1895–1900