Marblehead 1915

Maurice Prendergast made this watercolor, Marblehead, with what looks like pretty loose, joyful marks. It’s full of this light, broken color, almost like confetti. Looking closely, you can see how the paint sits on the surface. It's not trying to trick you into thinking it’s something else. Like the way he dabs the watercolor, allowing the white of the paper to shine through, especially in the sky. It's like he’s letting the painting breathe. Then there's the way he renders the figures. They're not detailed portraits, but more like suggestions of people, blobs of color that convey movement and life. Prendergast's approach reminds me a bit of Bonnard, in the way he captures a fleeting moment with such tenderness. Art isn’t about capturing a fixed reality, but about embracing the ambiguity and endless possibilities of what it means to see and feel.