Viewing the Sailboat 1910

Maurice Prendergast captured this scene of figures by the sea with oil on canvas. It’s like a mosaic, isn't it? Patches of color come together to form a picture, but the individual brushstrokes remain visible. I can imagine Prendergast outside, squinting in the bright light, trying to capture the feeling of a summer day. The way the figures are placed, almost like silhouettes against the bright sea, reminds me of some of Bonnard's paintings. There's a similar sense of capturing a fleeting moment. Look at the blues and yellows, how they vibrate against each other. He wasn't afraid to leave things unresolved, to let the paint itself be part of the story. He probably started with loose marks, and then built up the image gradually, adjusting and refining as he went. Like he's saying, "Here's what I saw, but here's also how I felt." That’s the embodied experience right there.