Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
Private collection
Sotheby's, 1988
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1988
Exhibition HistoryPublished References
Maurice Brazil Prendergast
(American, 1858–1924)
Park Promenade
1901
Monotype on greyish-ivory China paper, laid down on board
Image: 9 x 6 1/8 in. (22.9 x 15.6 cm)
Sheet: 10 1/16 x 8 in. (25.6 x 20.3 cm)
Mat: 14 1/2 x 11 in. (36.8 x 27.9 cm)
Sheet: 10 1/16 x 8 in. (25.6 x 20.3 cm)
Mat: 14 1/2 x 11 in. (36.8 x 27.9 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1988.10
SignedIn plate, lower right: MBP/1901 [monogram]; in plate, from lower left to lower right: ...PRENDERGAST
InterpretationMaurice Pendergast's monotype Park Promenade (CR 1746) is composed in loosely applied strokes of bright red, velvety brown, and various shades of green, suggesting a lush, autumnal park setting. A woman in a brown hat and voluminous white skirts under her hunter green coat fills the foreground, her floating white sashes emphasizing her rapid forward movement. Behind her, girls in yellow, white, and coral-tinted dresses cluster beneath the dense, low foliage of trees filling the background. Like several late monotypes in which swinging garments or accessories indicate movement, such as Red Haired Lady with Hat (TF 1992.103, CR 1576) and Lady with a Muff (TF 1992.91, CR 1726), Park Promenade demonstrates Prendergast's ability to infuse his small works of art with kinetic energy.
A narrow green border frames the image. Along its wider bottom edge, Prendergast inscribed his name, adding decorative marks on either side. Near the lower right corner, he added the date and above it his monogram. All these inscriptions were made on the matrix by using a stylus or the end of a brush handle to scrape through the pigment.
One of Prendergast's rare dated works, Park Promenade was made near the end of the artist's productive immersion in the medium of the monotype. The work is believed to be the first of two impressions produced from the same matrix. For the second impression, or cognate, also entitled Park Promenade (Potamk Collection, CR 1747), the artist may have retouched the matrix or manipulated the surface of the monotype after printing. The flecks of mica embedded in the gray-tinted China paper yield a subtle sheen. At an unknown date, the margins of the sheet were trimmed to the edges of the image and the sheet was attached to a board.
Park Promenade is a distinctive addition to the "Solitary Woman" series with its swirling riot of background color. Interesting comparisons can be made with the monochromatic background of a single figure type, as in Woman in a Blue Dress with White Boa and Large Red Hat (TF 1992.118, CR 1745), one with a narrative setting such as Lady with Umbrella (TF 1992.92, CR 1686), or the figure against a pristine surface exemplified by The Red Cape (TF 1992.102, CR 1580). For more information, see Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Charles Prendergast: A Catalogue Raisonné (1990), to which the CR numbers for the monotypes noted above refer.
A narrow green border frames the image. Along its wider bottom edge, Prendergast inscribed his name, adding decorative marks on either side. Near the lower right corner, he added the date and above it his monogram. All these inscriptions were made on the matrix by using a stylus or the end of a brush handle to scrape through the pigment.
One of Prendergast's rare dated works, Park Promenade was made near the end of the artist's productive immersion in the medium of the monotype. The work is believed to be the first of two impressions produced from the same matrix. For the second impression, or cognate, also entitled Park Promenade (Potamk Collection, CR 1747), the artist may have retouched the matrix or manipulated the surface of the monotype after printing. The flecks of mica embedded in the gray-tinted China paper yield a subtle sheen. At an unknown date, the margins of the sheet were trimmed to the edges of the image and the sheet was attached to a board.
Park Promenade is a distinctive addition to the "Solitary Woman" series with its swirling riot of background color. Interesting comparisons can be made with the monochromatic background of a single figure type, as in Woman in a Blue Dress with White Boa and Large Red Hat (TF 1992.118, CR 1745), one with a narrative setting such as Lady with Umbrella (TF 1992.92, CR 1686), or the figure against a pristine surface exemplified by The Red Cape (TF 1992.102, CR 1580). For more information, see Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Charles Prendergast: A Catalogue Raisonné (1990), to which the CR numbers for the monotypes noted above refer.
Private collection
Sotheby's, 1988
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1988
Exhibition History
The Work of Charles and Maurice Prendergast, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: 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). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 1993.
Regard sur Maurice Brazil Prendergast (Maurice Brazil Prendergast at a Glance), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 1993.
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. 1746, p. 629.
Regard sur cinq années d'expositions. (Five years of Exhibitions at a Glance). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1997. Ill. p. 64 (color).
Regard sur cinq années d'expositions. (Five years of Exhibitions at a Glance). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1997. Ill. p. 64 (color).