The Boat Race c. 1918 - 1923

Maurice Prendergast made this painting, called 'The Boat Race', probably in the early 20th century, with oil on canvas. Just look at the juicy way that he daubs and dabs, with such broken colours! A host of figures, and boats, but they are subsumed into a haze of marks. The painting shimmers like a mirage. Did you ever notice how the very act of looking can make a scene dissipate before your eyes? Like it’s all just a dream? I imagine Prendergast feeling that ephemerality, the flux of experience, and trying to fix it down. But of course, you can’t really capture it. Prendergast was one of those artists who was always looking, always trying to catch a fleeting glimpse of modern life. He wasn’t interested in perfection, just the feeling of being alive. Like Bonnard, like Vuillard, like all those guys, he had his own particular way of seeing. And wasn’t afraid to just get it down.