The Bathing Cove 1918

Maurice Prendergast made this oil painting, 'The Bathing Cove', with small, mosaic-like strokes. It's all about how the process of artmaking can be as playful as a day at the beach. The surface is built up with these tiny touches of color, a tactile record of the artist's hand moving across the canvas. Look at the way he renders the figures on the beach, each one a unique configuration of color. It's as though the paint itself is dancing, the brush acting like a conductor, orchestrating a symphony of hues and textures. The palette feels kind of muted, but there's a vibrancy simmering beneath the surface. Zoom in on the trees, the way that Prendergast manages to define them with a dense accumulation of light and shadow. It reminds me of the way that Bonnard approached his paintings, with a similar touch. Ultimately, Prendergast shows us that art is a conversation, an exchange of ideas that unfolds over time.