The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

The Spanish Steps

1898–99

Maurice Prendergast

(American, born Newfoundland [now Canada], 1858–1924)
America
color monotype
Image: 29.7 x 19 cm (11 11/16 x 7 1/2 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Prasse Collection 1982.167
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Maurice Prendergast became influenced by Impressionism after studying for two years in Paris during the 1880s.

Description

Executed during Prendergast's first trip to Italy, he selected a classic Roman tourist site, theatrical with its sweeping curves, and depicted three dozen red-robed Catholic seminarians flowing down the carefully delineated monumental staircase.
  • ?-1982
    Leona E. Prasse [1896-1984], Cleveland, OH
    November 16, 1982
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Mathews, Nancy Mowll, Maurice Prendergast, and Elizabeth Kennedy. Prendergast in Italy. 2009. fig. 41, p. 120 and p. 182
    Lee, Sherman E. "Year in Review for 1982." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 70, no. 1 (1983): 3-55. p. 52, no. 52 25159799
    Rhys, Hedley Howell. Maurice Prendergast, 1859-1924. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1960. no. 130
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 357
  • Water Color Club Fourteenth Annual Exhibition. Boston Water Color Club, Boston, MA (March 1-16, 1901)
    Monotypes: Painterly Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (May 31-October 11, 2015).
    Treasures on Paper from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 9-June 8, 2014).
    Prendergast in Italy. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (February 14-May 9, 2010).
    The Art of Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (February 21-April 22, 1991), The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. (May 18-August 25, 1991)
    Leona E. Prasse, Connoisseur and Curator. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 28-August 25, 1985).
    America Draws. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1984-March 17, 1985).
    The Year in Review for 1982. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 5-February 6, 1983).
    Davis & Long Company, New York, 1979, no. 76, ill. (Exhibition catalogue by Cecily Langdale)
    Centennial Exhibition of Maurice Prendergast, 1859-1924. Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, MA (1960–61).
  • {{cite web|title=The Spanish Steps|url=false|author=Maurice Prendergast|year=1898–99|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1982.167