Viewing the Sailboat 1910

Maurice Prendergast made Viewing the Sailboat on a canvas using oil paint. The dabs of color, oh so juicy, build up this scene with a casual, almost slap-dash energy. I love how the colors vibrate. Look at how the thick, opaque strokes of yellow and ochre evoke the foreground, clashing with the cool blues of the sea and sky. Focus in on the figures; each daub feels like a choice, a decision made in the heat of the moment. This isn't about perfection, it's about process. It’s as if the painting is built from fleeting moments of perception. I mean, does the little girl have a face or is that just a smudge of white paint? Prendergast's broken color and mosaic-like surfaces remind me of the work of the Pointillists, but with a looseness that feels very contemporary. It's this embrace of ambiguity that makes his work so endlessly fascinating.