Collections: American Art: Sunday on the Beach

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Sunday on the Beach

Maurice Prendergast was one of the first Americans to use watercolor in a modernist manner, allowing passages of unpainted paper to play a role in the description of summarily described forms. Prendergast’s style and his subjects were largely inspired by the French Post-Impressionist art he had encountered as a student in Paris in the early 1890s. His best-known theme was the modern pursuit of leisure by the middle classes, in parks and at beaches like this one near Boston.


• Artist: Maurice Brazil Prendergast, American, 1858-1924
• Medium: Watercolor on cream, moderately thick, moderately textured wove paper
• Dates: ca. 1896-1898
• Dimensions: 17 3/4 x 13 5/16 in. (45.1 x 33.8 cm) Frame: 21 1/2 x 16 3/8 x 1 1/2 in. (54.6 x 41.6 x 3.8 cm)
• Signature: Signed lower left in black ink: "Prendergast"
• Collections: American Art
• Museum Location: This item is not on view
• Accession Number: 65.204.9
• Credit Line: Gift of Daniel and Rita Fraad, Jr.
• Image: Overall, 65.204.9_cropped_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Maurice Brazil Prendergast (American, 1858-1924). Sunday on the Beach, ca. 1896-1898. Watercolor on cream, moderately thick, moderately textured wove paper, 17 3/4 x 13 5/16 in. (45.1 x 33.8 cm) Frame: 21 1/2 x 16 3/8 x 1 1/2 in. (54.6 x 41.6 x 3.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Daniel and Rita Fraad, Jr., 65.204.9 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 65.204.9_cropped_SL1.jpg)