St. Malo

Maurice Prendergast's St. Malo depicts the French northwestern coastal resort town not in its famous fortified ramparts, crowded beaches, or venerable stone fortress, but as a village of small houses strung out along the shoreline in elevated tiers. The composition of the watercolor is divided nearly in half at the horizon line, with the land itself a series of steep banks and green ground dotted with trees and buildings under a dramatic fair-weather cloudscape. The absence of conventional framing elements to enclose the scene and focus attention on spatial recession emphasizes the pattern-like effect of the houses, mere sketches of quickly applied line and washes scattered across the full width of the image. Strong color, dominated by blues, is applied freely in vigorously dashed and curved strokes, with washes of varying intensity depicting the transient tints of clouds and open sky. Although Prendergast followed the conventional practice of sketching in graphite before painting in fluid watercolor, the freedom of paint application in St. Malo, particularly in the sky, creates the effect of a spontaneous technique of rapid pure painting.

At the turn of the twentieth century, St. Malo was a popular seasonal resort that attracted many artists with its colorful crowds, picturesque old ramparts and quays, and broad sea vistas dotted with fortified islands. Prendergast spent two summer months there in 1907 during an important trip to France that included a pivotal encounter with the works of cutting-edge modernists and with the powerfully structured art of recently deceased French painter Paul Cézanne (1839–1906). The numerous oil and watercolor paintings Prendergast made in St. Malo, including this watercolor and Entrance to the Harbor (TF 1989.23), demonstrate a new vigor of brushwork and coloristic boldness for the artist. This view is unusual for Prendergast both in its absence of figures and in its focus on the village and land rather than open water. Seen from a distance, possibly from one of St. Malo's fortified islands at high tide, houses are dwarfed and the throngs of gaily dressed holiday-makers that so often dominate his images are absent. In place of the bustling resort town and busy harbor, St. Malo offers a charming village that also serves as Prendergast's vehicle for patterned form rendered in vigorous brushwork and vibrant color.

Maurice Prendergast, Paintings and Watercolors, Kraushaar Galleries, New York, New York (organizer). Venue: Kraushaar Galleries, New York, New York, November 13–December 9, 1944.

American Impressionism, Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, Washington, D.C. (organizer). Venues: Musée du Petit Palais, Paris, France, March 30–May 30, 1982; National Gallery, East Berlin, Germany, June 15–July 25, 1982; Museum Moderner Kunst, Schweizergarten, Vienna, Austria, August 15–September 25, 1982; Art Museum, Bucharest, Romania, Socialist Republic, October 24–November 24, 1982; National Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria, December 26, 1982–January 31, 1983. [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.

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.

American Treasures: Chase, Whistler and the Prendergasts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 26–January 5, 1997.

Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 1999.

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.]

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]

McClelland, Donald, Barbara Novak and Harold Spencer. Impressionistes Américains. (exh. cat., Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Service). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Service, 1982. Ill. no. 46.

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-122, p. 231 (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. 902, p. 437; ill. no. 902, p. 437 (black & white).

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. 96; fig. 96, 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. 96; fig. 96, p. 96 (black & white).

St. Malo, Maurice Brazil Prendergast. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 1999. 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. 142, 203; ill. pp. 143 (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. 142, 203; ill. pp. 143 (color), 203 (black & white).

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). Ill. p. 125 (color).