Edge of the Park 1915

Maurice Prendergast made this watercolour, Edge of the Park, at an unknown date. It’s like he’s squeezed out all the joy and light from his paints, and let it spill across the paper. The colours are really doing some work, aren't they? Look at the blue gate, how it pops against the softer hues behind it. And the figures! They're not so much painted as evoked, dashes and blobs of colour suggesting movement and life. You can almost hear the clip-clop of the horse's hooves and the chatter of the crowd. The red and blue houses in the background are so immediate and playful. It reminds me a bit of Bonnard, but with a uniquely American sensibility. It's a painting that doesn't try to be perfect, and it's all the more beautiful for it. The looseness invites me to imagine what kind of process Prendergast used to create this impression of the park. Art is always a conversation, an ongoing exchange of ideas, and, ultimately, a form which embraces ambiguity.