PRENDERGAST, Maurice (St. John’s, 1859 – New York, 1924)
Maurice Brazil Prendergast and his twin sister, Lucy Catherine, were born on 10 October 1859, in St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. The family moved to Boston in 1861, where Maurice attended school until he was fourteen. He was then apprenticed to a commercial art firm. In May of 1891, Prendergast sailed for Paris to study at the Académie Colarossi with Gustave Courtois and at the Académie Julian with Jean-Paul Laurens, Joseph Blanc and Benjamin Constant. Prendergast returned to Boston in 1895 to exhibit his paintings at the Boston Art Club. In 1897, his paintings were exhibited at the New York Watercolor Society Eighth Annual Exhibition. In 1898, Prendergast returned to Europe for eighteen months. During this visit, he painted in Saint Malo, Paris, Siena, Florence, Rome, Capri and Venice. Prendergast moved to New York in 1904, the year he exhibited at the National Arts Club with Robert Henri, John Sloan, Arthur B. Davies, William Glackens and George Luks. In May of 1907, Prendergast went back to France, living first in Paris and then in Saint Malo. He returned to the United States in October of 1907 and exhibited with The Eight at the Macbeth Gallery in 1908. Prendergast exhibited with Marin, Hartley and others in an Independent Exhibition held at the Gallery of the Society of Fine Arts Architects in New York in 1911. That year he travelled to Paris, Brittany and Venice and then lived in Boston in 1912. Prendergast was on the organising committee and exhibited seven paintings in the 1913 Armory Show. In 1914 Prendergast again visited France. From 1914 to 1922, he kept a studio in New York. Maurice Prendergast died on 1 February 1924.
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