William Merritt Chase

Two Hour Study Head, 1913

oil on canvas

14 ½ x 14 ½ inches

Gift of Mary Y. Robinson

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William Merritt Chase was born in Ninevah, Indiana and studied under Barton Hayes in Indianapolis and then briefly at the National Academy of Design.  Due to the interest and generosity of several art patrons, Chase was able to take a five-year trip to Munich, where he studied at the city’s Royal Academy.  In 1878, Chase returned to New York City, opened his Tenth Street Studio and developed his signature impressionist style.  He was a member of America’s influential group of impressionists known as The Ten, but was also an extremely influential teacher.  Chase opened the first summer school of landscape painting at his summer home in Shinnecock, Long Island.  He also taught at the Chase School in New York, which he founded, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.  His students included such famous artists as Marsden Hartley, Charles Demuth, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe and Charles Sheeler.

This study was probably painted during one of the summer school programs Chase conducted in Venice. His class demonstrations often assumed a theatrical atmosphere, with the student audience watching with rapt attention as a painting developed before their eyes.  In this canvas, Chase illustrated the level of completeness he could achieve in a short period of time.  Yet texture of hair, hat and robe and the luminosity of the figure’s skin are not sacrificed for the sake of rapid execution. Students referred to Chase’s demonstrations as “a treat – full of valuable advice and encouragement and incentive to do good work.” His demonstration pieces were sometimes offered to students as rewards for the best work completed in each class.

Reference

Ronald G. Pisano.  William Merritt Chase: The Complete Catalogue of Known and Documents Work by William Merritt Chase (1849-1916), Vol. 2: Portraits in Oil, New Haven Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2007.  ISBN-13: 978-0300110210