Maurice Prendergast

Rocks, Waves and Figures

c. 1902–1904
Watercolor with graphite underdrawing on handmade wove paper
28.3 × 39.7 cm (11.1 × 15.6 in)

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● On view now — Collection Gallery, Room 17, South Wall

Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia · verified July 2026

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FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Several gaily dressed women recline on rocks next to the ocean as waves crash around them. Prendergast, whose influences ranged from the crowded spectacles of medieval mosaics to the emergent art of his day, was considered a pioneer of American modernism. In Rocks, Waves, and Figures , he experimented with the bold color palette of Édouard Manet as well as the dramatic silhouettes and vigorous impasto—seen especially in the white, frothing waves—of Winslow Homer.

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