Crepuscule (also known as Sunset) 1910

Maurice Prendergast created this oil painting, "Crepuscule," whose date remains unknown, while it is held in a private collection. Notice how the composition is structured not by traditional linear perspective but by blocks of color and texture. Short brushstrokes create a mosaic-like surface, which evokes a sense of movement and light. Prendergast destabilizes clear form, instead playing with semi-abstracted figures and landscapes. This approach aligns with early modernist ideas about perception and representation. In his rendering of the scene, Prendergast uses a semiotic system where colors and forms operate as signs, hinting at a scene without defining it precisely. Consider how Prendergast’s technique challenges our assumptions about how a painting should look, opening a space for multiple interpretations. Art, like life, is full of possibilities.