Maurice Prendergast 1858–1924 | American
Beach Scene, Saint-Malo
TABL E O F CO N TE N TS
Painting Overview . . ....................... 4 Exhibited.. .................................... 6 Auction Comparables................... 8 Museum Comparables.................. 9
Oil on panel | Circa 1907 Signed "Prendergast" (lower left) Inscribed "No 13/'Study' St Malo/Maurice Prendergast" (en verso) Panel: 10 1/2” high x 13 3/4” wide | 26.67cm x 34.93 cm Frame: 16 1/4" high x 19 1/2" wide x 2" deep 41.28 cm x 49.53 cm x 5.08 cm
Art is not what you see, but what you make others see. - Maurice Prendergast
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O V E R V I EW
M
aurice Brazil Prendergast is regarded among the most significant turnof-the-century American painters, helping to herald in the modern art movement in the United States. This beach scene set in Saint-Malo, France is exemplary of the artist's expressive style, which captures the spectacle and unique lightheartedness of modern America. Like the French Impressionists who influenced him from Cézanne to Signac, Prendergast turned to everyday life for his inspiration, visiting verdant parks and crowded beaches such as this one to create works that were entirely modern in both their subject matter and their style. Prendergast is renowned for his colorful recreational scenes such as this one, which features a group of figures relaxing in the eponymous town along the Brittany coast. By the early 1900s, Prendergast was already a wellknown artist stateside, and in 1907 he returned to France to see pivotal exhibitions of Cézanne, Valloton and Vuillard in Paris. He spent that summer in Saint-Malo on the Brittany coast, where he made a number of oil paintings on panels, including this one which the artist labeled as number 13. The influence of the French modernists is on full display in this composition, with Prendergast's movement toward abstration, heightened color and bold, defined brushstrokes. So influential in the American artistic vanguard, Prendergast was a part of the landmark exhibition at Macbeth Galleries in New York upon his return from Paris in 1908, and he included many paintings from Saint-Malo, possibly even this one. This seminal exhibition traveled to various cities and marked the beginning of the influential group of American artists known as The Eight. Born in St. John’s, Newfoundland in 1859, Prendergast was the eldest son of Maurice Prendergast, a local shopkeeper, and Mary Malvina Germaine, the daughter of a Boston physician. He decided to become an artist at a young age, and by 1879, he was working as a painter of show cards at the Boston firm of J.P.
Marshall. It was during this period he was first introduced to watercolor painting, a medium which he would use throughout his career. From 1887 until 1891, Prendergast lived in Paris, studying at the Academies Julian and Colarossi. It was during that time that he encountered the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, while also learning to paint en plein air. He eventually settled in Boston, where he embarked on his career as a commercial and fine artist. In 1908, he participated in an exhibition at Macbeth Galleries, considered the first showing of The Eight, which included the realist painters Robert Henri, William Glackens, George Luks, Everett Shinn and John Sloan, as well as the Impressionists Ernest Lawson and Arthur B. Davies. As one of the most significant practitioners of modernism in the United States, he also helped organize the landmark Armory Show held in New York in 1913. One year later, Prendergast settled there permanently, going on to exhibit his work at venues such as the Carroll Galleries, the Montross Gallery, the Society of Independent Artists and the Brummer Gallery. Today, his highly celebrated works can be found in important public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C., among many others. ●
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OVERVIEW
PROVENANCE Private Collection, Buffalo, New York Private Collection, Siesta Key, Florida Private Collection of Angie Burnham, Boulder, Colorado, by 1975 M.S. Rau, New Orleans
EXH IB I T E D New York, Macbeth Galleries, An Exhibition of Paintings by Arthur B. Davies, William J. Glackens, Robert Henri, Ernest Lawon, George Luks, Maurice B. Prendergast, Everett Shinn, John Sloan, February 3 - 15, 1908, possibly no. 26
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EX H I B I T E D
New York, Macbeth Galleries, An Exhibition of Paintings by Arthur B. Davies, William J. Glackens, Robert Henri, Ernest Lawon, George Luks, Maurice B. Prendergast, Everett Shinn, John Sloan, February 3 - 15, 1908, possibly no. 26
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EXHIBITED
New York, Macbeth Galleries, An Exhibition of Paintings by Arthur B. Davies, William J. Glackens, Robert Henri, Ernest Lawon, George Luks, Maurice B. Prendergast, Everett Shinn, John Sloan, February 3 - 15, 1908, possibly no. 26
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AU C T I O N C O M PA R A B L ES
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Maurice Prendergast Title Buck's harbor Medium oil on panel Year of Work Circa 19071910 Size Height 9.8 in.; Width 13.5 in. / Height 24.8 cm.; Width 34.3 cm. Misc. Signed Sale of Christie's New York: Thursday, November 29, 2007 [Lot 00147] Important American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture Estimate 200,000 300,000 USD Sold For 421,000 USD Premium
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Maurice Prendergast Title Luxembourg gardens Medium Oil on Panel Year of Work 19071907 Size Height 10.5 in.; Width 13.7 in. / Height 26.7 cm.; Width 34.9 cm. Misc. Signed Sale of Sotheby's New York: Wednesday, May 21, 2003 [Lot 00021] American Paintings, Drawings & Sculpture from the Collection of Meyer & Vivian Potamkin Estimate 200,000 300,000 USD Sold For 400,000 USD Premium
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M U S EUM C O M PA R A B L E S
Maurice Prendergast | Seascape, St. Malo 1907 Medium: Oil on panel Dimensions: 101/2 × 133/4 inches | 26.7 x 34.9 cm
The Barnes Foundation
Philadelphia, PA, United States
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MUSEUM COMPARABL ES
Maurice Prendergast | St. Malo c. 1907 Medium: Oil on wood Dimensions: 101/2 × 133/4 inches | 26.7 x 34.9 cm
The Cleveland Museum of Art Cleveland, OH, United States
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MUSEUM COMPARABL ES
Maurice Prendergast | Beach at St. Malo c. 1907 Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 141/2 x 171/2 inches | 36.8 x 44.5 cm
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza Madrid, Spain
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