Maurice B. Prendergast 1858-1924

Charles Prendergast (the artist's brother), 1924
Mrs. Charles Prendergast (his wife), 1948
Kraushaar Galleries, New York
Victoria Thorne Matthews, 1956
A. Bruce Matthews (sold: Sotheby's, New York, December 2, 1993, lot 115, illustrated in color)
Acquired by the present owner at the above sale

New York, Macbeth Galleries, An Exhibition of Paintings by a Group of Boston Artists, April 1909, no. 27 (as Brimstone Corner)
Boston, Massachusetts, Boston Copley Gallery, Exhibition of Paintings by Charles Hopkinson, Charles Harvey Pepper, Maurice Prendergast, March 1911, no. 14 (as Brimstone Corner)
Dayton, Ohio, Dayton Art Institute, America and Impressionism, October-November 1951

"Around the Galleries," Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 25, 1909, p. 17 (as Brimstone Corner)
"Hopkinson, Pepper and Prendergast Joint Exhibition," Boston Evening Transcript, March 15, 1911, p. 23 (as Brimstone Corner)
Hedley Howell Rhys, Maurice Prendergast: The Sources and Development of His Style, Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, 1952, p. 152 (as Park Street Church, Boston)
Christian Science Monitor, Boston, Massachusetts, 1953, p. 4, illustrated
Carol Clark, Nancy Mowll Mathews and Gwendolyn Owens, Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Charles Prendergast: A Catalogue Raisonné, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 1990, no. 229, p. 258, illustrated

Very good condition, lined; under UV: a few minor dots of retouching, otherwise fine.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In May 1907 Maurice Prendergast left Boston for a six month trip to France where he first viewed the works of the French Post-Impressionists and the Fauves at the summer and fall exhibitions in Paris. Milton Brown writes that prior to his 1907 trip to France Prendergast  "showed tendencies pointing to a major change in outlook ... there is no question that the stay in Paris had a profound effect on him" (Maurice B. Prendergast, Charles Prendergast: A Catalogue Raisonné, 1990, p. 20). Though Prendergast executed brightly-colored neo-impressionistic scenes, he also possessed a particular affinity for the work of Cézanne. Before departing for America, he wrote to Mrs. Esther Baldwin Williams, a fellow painter and close friend, commenting on the dozens of works he saw by Cézanne who: "gets the most wonderful color, a dusty kind of grey" (quoted in Richard J. Wattenmaker, Maurice Prendergast, 1994, p. 87). In Snowy Day, Boston Prendergast forgoes the primary colors and pointillist technique of the neo-impressionists and tempers the white, pink and yellow hues with grey tones applied in layered strokes of paint. Prendergast executed a watercolor (Park Street Church, Boston, ca. 1905-1907) of the same corner a few years earlier. As in the watercolor, Prendergast arranged the composition of Snowy Day, Boston in horizontal bands that flattens space and unifies the painting's surface. He also omitted part of the church's iconic 217 foot spire in order to preserve the horizontality of the work.

Erected in 1810 at the corner of Park and Tremont streets, Park Street Church was founded by Oliver Wendell Holmes and nine other prominent citizens. The site presumably earned the nickname "Brimstone Corner" because gunpowder was stored in the church's crypt during the War of 1812. The church served as the location for many historic events, notably, the first anti-slavery speech given by abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison on July 4, 1829, and the first performance of Samuel Francis Smith's hymn, "My Country 'Tis of Thee".