Charles Prendergast

Art Brokerage: Charles Prendergast American Artist: b. 1863-1948. Charles Prendergast was born in Boston and lived and worked with his older brother, Maurice, in Massachusetts until they moved to New York City in 1914. Charles, a professional frame-maker, built Renaissance inspired frames that were simply carved and finished with gilt and raw gesso. He also painted and by 1912 was executing incised and painted gesso panels as well as carved and decorated chests and screens in exotic motifs. The panels immediately attracted collectors such as Albert C. Barnes, John Quinn, and Lillie P. Bliss. Prendergast's work displays far-reaching Near Eastern and oriental influences in style and subject, much of it drawn from the Chinese and Persian collections in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts that he so admired. Charles and Maurice delighted in mosaic color and exquisite design; each artist expressing these elements differently in his art. In 1925, after the death of Maurice, Charles traveled to France and married Eugénie van Kemmel upon their return to America. They lived in Westport, Connecticut until his death in 1948. Listings wanted.