Born in Williamsburg (now Nineveh), Indiana, William Merritt Chase was a gifted, versatile, and cosmopolitan painter who, through his work and his teaching, became one of the most influential artists of his era. He excelled at both Impressionist landscapes and realistic still lifes, but his most memorable canvases are the portraits of his family members, which add an engaging personal note to his virtuosity. Here the artist's daughter Dorothy, who confronts the viewer with a direct gaze, assumes her place within a delightful series of female full-length portraits that Chase painted between 1886 and 1902. Chase and his family lived in New York City, and Chase's elaborately decorated studio on Tenth Street was a center for the promotion of his art and a gathering place for New York artists. Dressed in a flowing cape and accompanied by his Russian wolfhounds, Chase presented himself as an aristocratic bohemian.
The vigorous brushwork and fresh color that are characteristic of much of the best American painting of the early 20th century owe a good deal to Chase's style. Among his many pupils were painters who would emerge as leading American modernists, including Charles Demuth, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Charles Sheeler. The Indianapolis Museum of Art has a large collection of canvases by William Merritt Chase, including numerous early works and a variety of still lifes and figure paintings.
The entire New York world of painting was dominated by William Merritt Chase, a glittering personality.
-Artist and critic Guy Pène du Bois, 1940
