Provenance
Annie Swan Coburn (1856-1932), Chicago, by Nov. 1932 [collection inventory]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.
Accession Number
14783
Medium
Watercolor, with touches of gouache over graphite, on white wove paper
Dimensions
35.7 × 51 cm (14 1/16 × 20 1/8 in.)
Classification
watercolor
Credit Line
Olivia Shaler Swan Memorial Collection
Background & Context
Background Story
Maurice Prendergast's A Day in the Country (1920/23) is a watercolor with gouache over graphite on white wove paper. Prendergast (1858-1924) was an American Post-Impressionist painter known for his vibrant, decorative watercolors and oil paintings of leisure scenes. This work shows people enjoying a day in the countryside, the figures rendered in Prendergast's characteristic style of simplified forms, bright colors, and rhythmic compositions.
Cultural Impact
Prendergast was a leading American Post-Impressionist, known for his vibrant watercolors of leisure scenes.
Why It Matters
This watercolor of a day in the country captures the joy of leisure with Prendergast's vibrant colors and rhythmic composition.
