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Source 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.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
108452
label
May Day, Central Park
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
108452
contentType
drawing
title
May Day, Central Park
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.
date
1901
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q80056803
creators
3246
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 35.4 x 50.6 cm (13 15/16 x 19 15/16 in.)
cul
America
accession
1926.17
Source extras
tec
watercolor over graphite
tombstone
May Day, Central Park, 1901. Maurice Prendergast (American, born Newfoundland [now Canada], 1858–1924). Watercolor over graphite; sheet: 35.4 x 50.6 cm (13 15/16 x 19 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1926.17
supportMaterials
description
beige(1) wove paper
collection
DR - American 19th Century
inscriptions
inscription
signed, across bottom, in brown ink: Maurice B. Prendergast Central Park. 1901. / New York.; verso, upper left, in graphite: No 22; center, in graphite: May Day Central Park
didYouKnow
Maurice Prendergast studied in Paris and was influenced by the French Impressionists and their focus on modern urban life.
citations
citation
DeGrazia, Diane, and Carter E. Foster. <em>Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 224-225, p.296; Reproduced: p. 295
citation
Wattenmaker, Richard J. "Maurice Prendergast." <em>Allen Memorial Art Museum Bulletin</em> 40, no. 1 (1982-1983): 25-37.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 36 n. 16
citation
Milliken, William Mathewson. "The Maurice Prendergast Memorial Exhibition." <em>Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art </em>13, no. 2 (February 1926): 40-41.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 38
citation
Milliken, William Mathewson. "Maurice Prendergast, American Artist." <em>The Arts</em> (April 1926): 181-192.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 187
citation
<em>Maurice Prendergast Memorial Exhibition</em>. Exh. Cat. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1934.
page_number
Mentioned: no. 95
citation
Francis, Henry S. "Museum Water Colors and the Thirteenth Exhibition of Water Colors and Pastels." <em>Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. 24, no. 3 (March 1937): 39-41.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 40
citation
<em>Painting Today and Yesterday in the United States</em>. Exh. Cat. Santa Barbara: Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1941.
page_number
Mentioned: no. 97
citation
<em>National Cyclopedia of American Biography. </em>Vol. 30. New York, 1943.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 398-399
citation
<em>Acquarela - E.E.U.U. Watercolor - USA, A Survey of Watercolor - USA from 1870 to 1946</em>. Exh. Cat. Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 1946.
page_number
Mentioned: no. 6
citation
Metcalfe, James J. "Artists." <em>Cleveland News</em> (August 19, 1950): 50.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 50
citation
<em>The Exhibition of American Painting</em>. Exh. Cat. Athens, OH: Ohio University, 1954.
page_number
Mentioned: no. 27
citation
McKinney. Roland. <em>The Eight</em>. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1954.
page_number
Reproduced
citation
<em>American Watercolor Exhibition</em> Exh. Cat. New Delhi: All-India Fine Arts and Crafts Society, 1954.
page_number
Mentioned: no. 1
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 563
citation
Rhys, Hedley Howell. <em>Maurice Prendergast, 1859-1924</em>. Exh. Cat. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1960.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: no. 88
citation
Dodd, Loring Holmes. "Two Important Shows at Boston Museum." <em>Worcester Evening Gazette</em> (November 5, 1960): 7.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 7
citation
"Holiday Idyls [sic] of Long Ago: Nostalgic Appeal of Prendergast's World." <em>Life Magazine</em> (September 1, 1961).
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced
citation
Simon, John. "Maurice Prendergast." <em>New York Times </em>(February 26, 1961): X-19.
page_number
Mentioned: p. X-19
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 189
citation
Curry, Larry. <em>Eight American Masters of Watercolor</em>. Exh. Cat. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1968.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: no. 36
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 189
citation
"A Checklist of American Paintings and Water Colors of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Early Twentieth Centuries in The Cleveland Museum of Art." <em>Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 60, no. 1 (January 1973): 21-32.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 32
citation
Boyle, Richard J. <em>American Impressionism</em>. Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1974.
page_number
Mentioned: p.225; Reproduced: p. 1
citation
Glubok, Shirley. <em>The Art of America in the Early Twentieth Century</em>. New York: Macmillan, 1974.
page_number
Reproduced: inside front and back cover
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 235
citation
<em>The Monotypes of Maurice Prendergast</em>. Exh. Cat. New York: Davis & Long Company, 1979.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 12; Reproduced: p. 138
citation
Perlman, Bennard B. <em>The Immortal Eight: American Painting from Eakins to the Armory Show</em>. Westport, CT: Exposition Press, 1979.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 153
citation
<em>Five American Masters of Watercolor: Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Maurice Prendergast, John Marin, Charles Burchfield</em>. Exh. Cat. Evanston, IL: Terra Museum of American Art, 1981.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 18
citation
<em>Japanese Artists Who Studied in U.S.A. and the American Scene</em>. Exh. Cat. Toyko: National Museum of Modern Art, 1982.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: no. 62
citation
Koschatzky, Walter. <em>Die Kunst des Aquarells: Technik, Geschichte, Meisterwerke</em>. Vienna: Residenz Verlag, 1982.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: no. 200
citation
Langdale, Cecily. "The Late Watercolor/Pastels of Maurice Prendergast." <em>Antiques</em> 132 (November 1987): 1084-1095.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 1089
citation
Clark, Carol, Nancy Mowll Mathews, and Gwendolyn Owens. <em>Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Charles Prendergast: A Catalogue Raisonné</em>. Williamstown, MA: Williams College Museum of Art, 1990.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 412, no. 795
citation
Mathews, Nancy Mowll. <em>Maurice Prendergast</em>. Exh. Cat. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1990.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 20, p. 98, p. 184, no. 42; Reproduced: p. 87
citation
Anderson, Janice. <em>Children in Art</em>. New York, 1996.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 114-115
citation
<em>Pride in Place: Landscapes by The Eight in Southern Collections</em>. Exh. Cat. Albany: Albany Museum of Art, 2000.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 19
catalogueRaisonne
Clark, Mathews, and Owens 795
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 05:48:27.290000
sourceId
108452
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - American 19th Century
med
watercolor over graphite
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
e6ede3b16199985e