This is the first exhibition to present the seaside work of the Post-Impressionist painter Maurice Prendergast (1858-1924), whose sophisticated and sensitive renderings of beaches, coves, and bathers were often inspired by his visits to Maine. The exhibition brings together works with identifiable locations in Maine and elsewhere, with paintings whose "place" is not defined by geography but by their context in the grand traditions of western art.

Without our generous donors, this exhibition would not be possible. We are deeply appreciative to major sponsors the Devonwood Foundation, The Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts, Eric ’85 and Svetlana Silverman, and the Elizabeth B. G. Hamlin Fund at Bowdoin College. Generous additional support for the exhibition has been provided by halley k harrisburg ‘90 and Michael Rosenfeld; The Robert Lehman Foundation; Carolyn Logan P’12; the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts; the Morton-Kelly Charitable Trust; Thomas A. McKinley ’06; Mary G. O'Connell ’76 and Peter J. Grua ’76; and an anonymous donor; we are also grateful to Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund for support of the exhibition catalogue.

Autumn Programs

Tuesday, September 24, 2013 | 4:30 PM | Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center

"The New Spirit-American Art in the Armory Show, 1913"

Gail Stavitsky is the chief curator of the Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey.  Stavitsy will speak about her critically acclaimed eshibition The New Spirit: American Art in the Armory Show 1913 held earlier in 2013 at the Montclair Art Museum.

Thursday, October 10, 2013 | 4:30 p.m. |Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center

"Maurice Prendergast: Themes and Variations"

Richard Wattenmaker, former director of the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, and contributor to the exhibition catalogue Maurice Prendergast: By the Sea, will characterize Prendergast's artistic process and analyze the artist's unique position between European avant-gardes and the new generation of modern artists in America.

Summer Programs

Keynote Address | Saturday, June 29, 2013 | 5:00 p.m. | Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center

“Sea Change: Prendergast, Maine, and the Coastlines of Modern Art”

by Nancy Mowll Mathews, Co-curator of the exhibition and former Eugénie Prendergast Senior Curator of 19th and 20th Century Art, Williams College Museum of Art

Opening Reception and Family Activities | Saturday, June 29, 2013           6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. | Bowdoin College Museum of Art