1962.23 Maurice Prendergast, Beach Scene

While the jewel-like colors and simplified forms may make this beach seem otherworldly, the painting is rooted in one of Maurice Brazil Prendergast's favorite places, the Massachusetts coast. Although an American scene, the choice of subject matter and abstract style are due to the influence of European modernism, which Prendergast absorbed through several years' study in Paris, as well as on trips to Italy. 

Throughout his career, Pendergast worked in a style marked by a sparkling picture surface and pure color. As shown in Beach Scene, he discarded conventional perspective by uniting foreground and middle ground. His broad, unblended paint application amplifies flatness rather than illusionistic depth. 

This work dates from the period when Prendergast began to exhibit with the Eight, a group of American artists who were dissatisfied with official juried exhibitions and decided to mount their own independent shows. He also participated in the landmark 1913 Armory Show, the exhibition that first exposed mass American artists and viewers to modernism.

 

oil

panel

beach

coast

seashore

figures

brush stroke

seascape

horizon line

horizontality

foreground

background

flat

clouds

sky

Before 1947: Mrs. Charles Prendergast

From 1947: Kraushaar Galleries from the above

From 1956: private collection

nd: Wildenstein

1961-1962: Mrs. Wilson Schoellkopf, purchased from the above

From 1962: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift from the above [1]

Notes: The primary source for this provenance is documentation in the Collections Records Object File, sent to Williams College for inclusion in the Catalogue Raisonné.

[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983. 

Apply to objects where number equals 1962.23