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| MAURICE PRENDERGAST |
Maurice Prendergast Maurice Prendergast, one of the first American artists to adopt the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist style, was born on October 10, 1859 at St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. In 1861 he and his family moved to Boston where the young Prendergast attended school up until the age of fourteen. Bewteen 1886 and 1891 Prendergast studied in Europe where he was introduced to the work of the Post-Impressionists. While in Paris, he studied at Colarossi's and the Académie de Julien where he worked alongside Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard and met Charles Wilson Morrice. Prendergast's first national recognition came with an exhibition of 15 watercolors and 15 monotypes held at the beginning of the new century at the Chicago Art Institute. In 1903 he painted scenes of Central Park, and two years later he received his first New York show at Mcbeth Galleries. By then, he had switched to painting with oils. He was also an original member of the group of realist artists who initiated modernism in America known as "The Eight" and whose trademark was their opposition to the accepted academic tradition of the time. There was little Impressionistic thinking in "The Eight." The artists searched the streets for the underlying truths of common people. Prendergast's style manifested itself in his representations of memories and holiday atmosphere. His watercolors, the sketches for which were usually done en plein air, or out-of-doors and on site, show people enjoying a day on the beach, having a picnic, or walking in the shady streets. Prendergast's style relies on seeing the reduced, essential form and simple outline of his subjects. He infuses these flattened forms and outlines with vivid colors and arranges them in a manner resembling the Post-Impressionists. |
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 PANNELL ART GALLERY
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