Promenade

In Promenade (CR 1689) Maurice Prendergast explores one of his recurrent motifs, that of women and children idling along an ocean shore.  In this monotype the rhythmic procession of women, who hold their umbrellas high to block the glare of the sun, is punctuated by the intermingling of children.  Amusingly, each woman's profile is showcased against the red or green of her parasol.  The figures are large in scale for the size of the sheet, and their forms overlap or are linked by gesture from one to the next.  Two purple sailboats fill the spaces on either side of the group; their purple color is echoed in the tint of the high horizon, uniting the composition.

  Promenade is a cognate, or second impression, taken from the matrix that was first used to print Afternoon Promenade (Private collection, CR 1690). The frieze-like arrangement of figures against the backdrop, a compositional device Prendergast would use often in his later paintings, is rare among his monotypes and belongs to the "Processional" series.  More typical of the colored prints is his use of wide, short brushstrokes, alternating vertically and horizontally, of a single color to differentiate shore, ocean, and sky, combined with curving strokes to add a sense of motion. Traces of graphite on the surface testify to Prendergast's attempts to enhance, and perhaps to clarify, the image.

  Promenade retains its original, hand-carved Prendergast frame with a simple scoop profile painted with red bole clay and water-gilded with gold leaf.  Both Prendergast brothers made frames for Maurice's works of art.  Unfortunately, the monotype's generic title does not permit a definitive time for the frame's creation.  It is possible that the artist's brother Charles Prendergast produced the frame for an exhibition in the 1930s or an original Prendergast frame was added by a dealer or collector. 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] Monotypes in Color by Maurice Prendergast, Kraushaar Galleries, New York, New York, December 8–31, 1936 (perhaps as no. 11).

[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. 17).

[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. 97). [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. 27).

Maurice Prendergast: Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings, Water Colors, and Monotypes, Kraushaar Galleries, New York, New York, January 3–28, 1950.

Maurice Prendergast: The Monotypes, William Cooper Procter Art Center, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, May 1–21, 1967.

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.]

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.

Expanded Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection, [Gallery 163] The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, April 15–July 2005.

Langdale, Cecily. The Monotypes of Maurice Prendergast. (exh. cat., Davis & Long Company). New York: Davis & Long Company, 1979. Ill. no. 53, p. 88 (black & white).

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, 25, 100; ill. no. 27, p. 101 (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. 1689, p. 610; ill. no. 1689, p. 610 (black & white).