Flight into Egypt 1915

Maurice Prendergast's 1915 watercolor painting "Flight into Egypt" depicts the biblical story of Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus fleeing to Egypt. Prendergast's signature style is evident in the bold colors and simplified forms. The figures are rendered with a flatness and lack of detail that give the painting a decorative quality, a characteristic of the artist's early works that were influenced by the Art Nouveau and the Post-Impressionist movement. The work is full of delicate lines and brushstrokes that blend and dissolve into the background of red blossoms.