Central Park 1910

Maurice Prendergast painted Central Park with oil on canvas, and now it hangs at the Met. I like to imagine him painting en plein air, soaking up the park’s buzz with every dab of his brush. The painting is a mosaic of moments. Look closely, and you’ll see how Prendergast used short, staccato brushstrokes—almost like little musical notes—to build up the scene. The colours are vibrant and playful. The greens of the trees and grass are offset by the bright reds and oranges of the figures’ clothing, creating a lively, almost festive atmosphere. The paint is applied thickly, giving the surface a rich, textured quality that makes you want to reach out and touch it. Take the line of trees in the middle ground, for example. They're not just brown trunks, but a whole symphony of purples and greens and blues. It’s as if Prendergast is saying that there’s more to what we see than meets the eye. It reminds me of Bonnard, who also had this knack for capturing the fleeting moments of everyday life with a unique chromatic sensibility. Art is this wonderful, ongoing conversation, isn’t it?