The Rider 1915

Maurice Prendergast made "The Rider" with watercolor, and it’s really all about the joy of putting paint on paper. Look how the image is built up from all these little dabs and dashes. The rider and horse aren’t drawn with clear outlines but put together, piece by piece. Brown bricks make up the horse, blues and greys make up the rider. Prendergast is clearly enjoying the process of making marks. He has a light touch, and the colors are translucent, like light filtering through stained glass. See how the horse is facing right, but the rider's body is facing us? I love the way that Prendergast doesn't worry too much about whether it makes sense, he is more concerned with the joy of applying the watercolor. It makes me think of Marsden Hartley. Both of them had this real interest in process, the poetry of their own touch. Ultimately, painting is less about what you see, and more about how you see.