Brittany Coast
Collector
Maurice Brazil Prendergast
(1858 - 1924)
Datec. 1892-94
MediumWatercolor on wove paper
Dimensions10 x 6 7/8 in. (25.4 x 17.5 cm)
ClassificationsWatercolor
Credit LineHarriet Russell Stanley Fund
Terms
Object number1947.17
DescriptionTypical of Prendergast's scenes of middle-class leisure, "Brittany Coast" was painted during his visit in the early 1890s. A group of women and children is shown enjoying an afternoon on the beach, watching the sailboats in the distance. The artist's use of vibrant blues, purples, and greens enliven the scene, indicating that it is summer. The paint is applied in delicate and decorative splotches. The figures are abstracted, yet not beyond recognition. Prendergast creates detail through his usage of color and simple shapes, allowing the eye to imply the finer aspects of the scene. Prendergast utilized less opaque paint by diluting the pigments to create lighter tones. In contrast, he did the opposite when he wanted darker tones such as those in the waves of the ocean. Undoubtedly, Prendergast must have been aware of the work of his French Post-Impressionist contemporaries Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and in particular, Paul Cézanne. The painters had a major impact on his later oil paintings, monotypes, and watercolors. Celebrated for his images of middle-class leisure, Prendergast painted Brittany Coast during his visit there in the early 1890s. Brittany Coast presents a group of women and children sitting on a beach and enjoying the picturesque view of the ocean and the two sailboats in the distance. Prendergast's use of vibrant blues, purples, and greens enlivens the scene and the work's brightness suggests that it may be summer. He applies the paint in small splotches in a very delicate, decorative manner, a technique which he may have learned from the Art Nouveau style popular in France at the time and by studying the paintings of the Post-Impressionists. Brittany Coast conveys a sense of warmth and calmness, which further accentuates the very carefree, light-hearted quality of the painting. It looks forward to his more mature watercolors and oils, which make further use of the application of dots of color to the surface in a pointillist manner. These later works thoroughly embrace European modernism and its radical techniques and innovations. In all likelihood, Prendergast painted this watercolor in the open air, as he did so many others throughout his career.
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