It happens all the time. You hear or read about something and suddenly, it's everywhere! Purchase a new car and it immediately seems that everyone else is driving the exact same model. It's all about awareness. These things aren't just appearing out of thin air. We just don't notice them until we have a reason to do so.This can be the case with art as well.
Today's Wall Street Journal has a fascinating article on painter Maurice Prendergast (1858-1924). The piece refers to a current show at Williams College Museum of Art called "Prendergast in Italy" If you haven't yet made it out to our new exhibition, AUSPICIOUS VISION, you might not know that we have a wonderful Prendergast piece on display as part of the show. It's called Landscape with Figures. Not the most original title in the world. But the piece, as you can see, is a stunner.
In terms of style and aesthetics, Prendergast was obviously closer to impressionism than others from the Ash Can School. But he was much more politically motivated.
One interesting passage from the article states...
"When the Italian watercolors and monotypes were shown in Boston and New York, they immediately established Prendergast as a leading vanguardist (and set him apart from other members of "The Eight"—"The Ashcan School"—with whom he was closely associated). That reputation was cemented when he was included in the American section of the 1913 Armory Show, the vast international exhibition that introduced modernism to startled American audiences."
Now, we've talked in previous posts about "The Eight", "The Ashcan School", and the 1919 Armory Show, but what does it mean to be a "vanguardist"?
"In the context of revolutionary struggle, vanguardism is a strategy whereby an organization (usually a vanguard party) attempts to place itself at the center of the movement, and steer it in a direction consistent with its ideology." - from Wikipedia
So it seems that even though most of his works depicted leisurely people in relaxed, comfortable setting, there was much more going on beneath the surface. Through these accessible and somewhat traditional looking works, was Prendergast trying to change society through subtlety?
You be the judge.
