Lady in Blue, Waiting

Lady in Blue, Waiting reflects Maurice Prendergast's lifelong interest in the female form and in women's fashionable attire. In a scene that hints at unexplored narrative, a young woman with a bundle or muff over her arm stands near the image's center. Her quickly sketched head is turned slightly toward to the right in acknowledgment of the shadowy presence of a man just behind her; the truncated head and shoulders of a similar hatted figure hovers incongruously in the left middle distance. The setting is broadly sketched, with an expanse of blue wash—perhaps indicating water—stretching across the background to a flat horizon. A low partial wall stands just behind the woman, and the suggestion of another wall, perhaps that of a nearby building, intrudes on the right. The figures and their reflections on pavement wet from rain are lightly sketched in graphite under loose washes of watercolor; other forms are simply painted in flat areas of dull color. In a technique that would become Prendergast's hallmark, lines of white—the untouched surface of the paper—remain between painted areas to loosely define forms. The image is bordered by a brushed line of dull blue.

This watercolor sketch has been dated to the artist's four-year stay in Paris, where he studied at traditional art academies and haunted streets and cafes in search of real-life subjects. The work's small size and the apparently spontaneous manner in which it was made suggest it was casually composed outdoors.  In some areas, particularly at center left, distortions resulted from the accidental dropping or deliberate application of water on wet color.

Lady in Blue, Waiting reflects the artist's contemporaneous experimentation with monotypes, most noticeably in the woman's face, where penciled dots imply eyes and minute curving lines define eyebrows, a pert nose, and full lips. Similar clothing—swirling hats, muffs, and kicked-up skirt hems—are found in several monotypes, such as The Red Cape (TF 1992.102) and Young Woman with Muff (TF 1992.121). The drawn border on this watercolor is also a consistent feature of the monotypes. Likewise, the ghostly male figures, lending perspective or scale as well as a contrast to the dominant female figure, are found in several of Prendergast's monotypes, such as Early Evening, Paris (TF 1992.81) and Bella Regazza: Merceria Venice (TF 1992.71).

The Eight: Painters of the New Society, San Jose Museum, San Jose, California, October 19–November 28, 1976. [exh. cat.]

A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: 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). 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.

Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, New York (Sale 2862, May 15, 1969): lot 28. Ill. lot 28 (as "Woman in Blue").

"The Turn of the Century." Kennedy Quarterly 15 (September 1977): 239–47, 259. Ill. no. 193.

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. 548, p. 338; ill. no. 548, p. 339 (black & white).

Regard sur cinq années d'expositions. (Five years of Exhibitions at a Glance). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1997. Ill. p. 62 (color).