Cherubs 1915

Maurice Prendergast made this watercolor, "Cherubs," sometime between the late 19th and early 20th century. Look closely and you'll see how the paint is applied with a kind of joyous freedom. The figures are defined by loose washes of color, and the landscape is rendered with a similar kind of shorthand. There's a really interesting tension between the softness of the medium and the way it’s been applied. Take the tree trunks, for example. See how they are these vertical strokes of color, almost like a series of stained glass windows? The paint is thin, but the colors are layered to create depth. Then consider the foreground where the water is rendered with all these small, dab-like brushstrokes. Prendergast’s approach here reminds me of Bonnard, another painter who was really interested in using color to evoke atmosphere and feeling, rather than to describe things literally. Ultimately, this is a piece that celebrates the joy of looking and the endless possibilities of paint.