Antique American watercolor painting on paper of a baseball game by Member of The Eight (aka Ashcan School), 1913 Armory Show organizer and Post-Impressionist artist Maurice Brazil Prendergast (Am., 1858-1924). Signed lower right “Prendergast” and inscribed by the artist below that: “World Series On A Hidden Road, Watertown”.
Watertown is Middlesex County, MA. Besides living in Boston (Suffolk County) and later New York City, Prendergast lived in Winchester, Massachusetts which is in Middlesex County where this was painted.
Measures 8 1/4 x 13 inches mat opening sight size & 12 1/8 x 16 5/8 inches mat size. The paper measures approx. 9 1/2 x 14 inches.
“Robert Henri, George Luks, John Sloan and other early-20th-century American realists identified with the group were high-spirited fellows who prided themselves on fielding a baseball team that regularly defeated those of the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League”. -The New York Times, Ashcan Views of New Yorkers, Warts, High Spirits and All article by Ken Johnson, Dec. 28, 2007
Provenance: Estate of Joseph Ryan, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. He died from Lupus. Estate was handled by a country auction in the area and sold on 4/25/22, each item or grouping of items as Lot 5. If you need confirmation that I acquired this piece there and as you see it, my witness would be the country auction’s associate who handled the estate deal between the family and the auction.
I haven’t checked and don’t know if this painting is in the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) Prendergast book. I wouldn’t think it is since it just surfaced in 2022 and that book is from 1990. WCMA states on their web-site that they do “not appraise, evaluate, or authenticate works of art”. The country auction is the same way, and the items aren’t even cataloged.
In baseball, the term “World Series” has been around since the 1880’s. Watertown is in Middlesex County, Massachusetts and is part of Greater Boston. Prendergast was a Boston artist. He did watercolors of this approx. size (“Lacemakers, Venice” is apparently 13.70 x 9.70 inches) and signed like this one is signed. It’s obviously very old / antique (over 100 years old).
The painting is like many Prendergast artworks with a lineup of quirky figures engaged in leisure activities. Subjects the artist did vary from Merry-Go-Round, skipping rope, picking strawberries, “Playtime at Salem Park, Massachusetts”, picnic scenes, etc. America’s favorite pastime seems like a good subject, too ~ maybe the best one of all.
Written on the back of this watercolor is “Save for Ned”, “C”. Charles Prendergast handled his brother Maurice’s estate, so I’d think he would be “C”. In all likelihood, “Ned” was Edward “Ned” Robinson (1858-1931), who was Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in the early 1900’s and owned Prendergast watercolors such as “Piazza di San Marco”, “Court Yard, West End Library, Boston”, etc. Another possibility is Ned L. Pines from MA, who owned the w/c “La Porte Saint Denis”.
The label on the back of the matting doesn’t have to do with art. It’s from the clothiers Jacob Reed’s Sons, 1424-26 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. They advertised in Ivy league schools’ newspapers, traveled to college campuses, made uniforms for the US Army and Navy, Post Office, National Parks, etc. All the shipping label means to me is that a box shipped to someone was used to make this matting.
I’m offering this watercolor for less than 1% of the artist’s auction record for a watercolor. I invite and encourage anyone to come see it in-person to inspect it before buying. My number is posted under “About Us” at the top of my eBay Store page. Otherwise, ships domestically USPS Registered Mail only, for insurance reasons.