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The Rocky Seashore
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Throughout Prendergast’s career, the seaside was one of his favorite subjects, but in this watercolor, his true concern was color. Painting rapidly, Prendergast allowed the white of the paper to show around the edges of his jagged strokes of color, suggesting sunlight on wet rocks. This spontaneous seascape identifies him as one of the first American artists to experiment with modernism before the Armory Show in New York City of 1913, the first large-scale exhibition of European modern art held in the United States.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineThe Rocky Seashore, c. 1907–10. Maurice Prendergast (American, born Newfoundland [now Canada], 1858–1924). Watercolor with traces of graphite; sheet: 38.3 x 55.6 cm (15 1/16 x 21 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Anonymous Gift, 1953.655
