Artwork Page for May Day, Central Park

Details / Information for May Day, Central Park

May Day, Central Park

1901
(American, born Newfoundland [now Canada], 1858–1924)
Culture
America
Support
Beige(1) wove paper
Measurements
Sheet: 35.4 x 50.6 cm (13 15/16 x 19 15/16 in.)
Catalogue raisonné
Clark, Mathews, and Owens 795
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

Maurice Prendergast studied in Paris and was influenced by the French Impressionists and their focus on modern urban life.

Description

Maurice Prendergast worked primarily in watercolor, and Central Park—seen in this drawing— was one of his favorite subjects. He regularly visited the popular public area in New York City during the early 1900s, while he was living in Boston. Prendergast's depictions of Central Park often focus on festivities and celebrations, continuing a theme he had explored in other cities, such as Paris and Venice. Here, the artist depicted children celebrating May Day by dancing with colorful ribbons around a Maypole on a sunny day. He worked with rapid, loose marks, leaving portions of the paper visible to create highlights throughout. Prendergast was drawn to this subject, and revisited it many times.
A horizontally oriented watercolor and graphite drawing depicts a crowded festive gathering on a grassy field. In the center, children circle a tall maypole draped in pink and blue ribbons. Figures in light-colored dresses and hats fill the foreground, while a dark flag flies from a flagpole on the left. In the background, smaller groups and distant maypoles appear before a line of green trees under a soft, hazy sky.

May Day, Central Park

1901

Maurice Prendergast

(American, born Newfoundland [now Canada], 1858–1924)
America

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