In the Service of Beauty, William Merritt Chase

8/17/2019 In the Service of Beauty, William Merritt Chase

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P R E V I E W I N G U P C O M I N G E X H I B I T I O N S , E V E N T S , S A L E S A N D A U C T I O N S O F H I S T O R I C F I N E A RT

SUE 27 May/June 2016


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William Merritt Chase (1849-1916 ), Portrait of Dora Wheeler, 1882–83. Oil on canvas, 62 ⁄ x 65 ⁄ in. The Cleveland Museum of Art,gift of Mrs. Boudinot Keith in memory of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade.

William Merritt Chase: A Retrospective, at the Phillips Collection

SERVICE O F BEAUTY I N T H E

by James D. Balestrieri


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William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) , Spring Flowers (Peonies) , by 1889. Pastel on paper, prepared with a tan ground and wrapped with canvas arounda wooden strainer, 48 x 48 in. Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1992.32.

H ow William Merritt Chasebecame, well, William Merr ittChase, isn’t much of a story.

His path mirrors the path of dozens ofAmerican artists on either side of themidpoint of the 19 th century. He wasthe son of a businessman, showed earlytalent as an artist, studied with a couple

of local, largely self-taught painters, foundpatrons who funded his way to Europe— Munich, in Chase’s case—met andbefriended other prominent Americanexpatriate artists, won an importantaward, and a career was born.

As ordinary—and as meteoric—asChase’s rise reads, his career was nothing

short of extraordinary. Chase waseverywhere and knew everyone, leavinga legacy that is perhaps unmatched inAmerican art. He founded his ownschool (which became Parsons) andtaught many of the important artists ofthe early 20 th century—from Stella toO’Keeffe, Marin to Demuth, Hartley to


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Hopper. Despite—or perhaps becauseof—his ubiquity, Chase never adheredto any style or school, often saying that,in a very broad way, he was interestedin realism. But in fact he extolled andexcelled at academic portraiture, at thestill life, at plein air landscapes, and wasa master in oils, watercolor, pastels andetching. When works by Monet, Renoir,and the rest of the new French paintersmade their way across the pond, ratherthan rejecting them, Chase became anadvocate of impressionism. Then, if youreally look closely at some of his major

canvases, you can see William Merr ittChase standing there in all his ostensibleVictorian formality, holding the dooropen for modernism.

For all these reasons, William MerrittChase: A Retrospective , the rst majorexhibition of the artist’s works since1983, now at the Phillips Collection inWashington, D.C., is an ambitious—andsuccessful—undertaking.

Chase’s career ows into and out ofthe Tenth Street Studio in New York,where he worked from 1878 to 1895.The Tenth Street Studio building, the

rst of its kind in the United States,was constructed for the sole purpose ofproviding artists with properly lightedspaces in which they could not onlywork, but also display their paintingsand sculptures. Albert Bierstadt— among many others—had made TenthStreet the center of his early career.After his return from Europe, Chase,wisely, took Bierstadt’s studio.

This was an announcement andan invitation. Chase lled his studiowith every manner of exotic items— porcelain, textiles, statues, paintings—


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William Merritt Chase(1849-1916) , A City

Park , ca. 1887. Oil oncanvas, 13 ⁄ x 19 ⁄ in.Art Institute ofChicago. Bequest ofDr. John J. Ireland.

William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) , At the Seaside , ca. 1892. Oil on canvas, 20 x 34 in. The MetropolitanMuseum of Art, bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot (1876–1967), 1967.

William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) , Hall at Shinnecock , 1892. Pastel on canvas , 32 ⁄ x 41 in. Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection.


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William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) , Idle Hours , ca. 1894. Oil on canvas, 25½ x 35½ in. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas.

William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) , Hide and Seek , 1888.Oil on canvas, 27 / x 35 / inAcquired in 1923. The PhillipsCollection, Washington, D.C.


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artist in a garret, sacricing thecomforts of convention for capital “A”Art. The truth is that art was, and is,much noisier; much more social thanwe know. It’s a rare ar tist, generally afolk artist working in isolation, whodoesn’t bounce ideas off of fellowartists, respected dealers, collectors

and friends. For a professional artist

in the 19 th century, there were socialconventions to be observed and apublic persona to be maintained. It washard work. Expensive work. Theateras well as art. Chase was a master at it,known for his courtesy and generositywith models, students and collectors.

In the marketplace of American art,

Chase waxes and wanes. When other

“-isms” are in fashion—early 20 th century modernism and illustration, atpresent—Chase and other artists of theperiod (such as Childe Hassam, MaryCassatt, and the members of The Ten)seem to fall out of favor. Yet, in Chase’scase at any rate, it might be said thatAmerican modernism ows directly out

of Chase’s example and instruction.


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Take a second look at T enth StreetStudio. Flatten the perspective in yourmind. Let your eyes diminish the detailsand harden the outlines. What remainsis an arrangement of rectangles layeredover with contrasting shapes. How faris this, your new composition, fromMaurer or Mondrian?

A wonderful painting like Hide

and Seek is all dark rectangles in adeliberately shallow, slightly attenedperspective that seems simultaneouslyto shorten and lengthen the distancebetween the two girls. Chase, amaster at capturing light and itsessence reected on surfaces, createscounterpoint with a few strokes and

squiggles of paint. The thin, broken line

of brilliant sunlight peeking round theedge of the heavy brocade curtain thatfalls on the polished oor reminds usthat this is a game, though the momentis lled with the tension of a horrormovie. It is a short leap forward to thesurreal paintings of Marvin Cone.

Even what would seem to be a

straightforward work, like Portrait ofDora Wheeler , has its veiled treasures.Take Dora Wheeler away and youhave the makings of a ne Rothko.Consider the painting as it is and yound a very moder n visual pun: thecat eyeing up the sh in the tapestr ybehind Dora Wheeler has as much lifein it as Dora herself. Representation,Chase tells us, doesn’t discriminate:everything in a painting is real orunreal to the same degree.

But what comes rst to mind whenwe think of William Merr itt Chase isbeauty, whether it is the beauty of aday on the beach, of women and girlsin owing white dreaming away amoment, of parks in dappled sunlight,of owers in vases, or the sheen of silverscales on sh. Chase’s lines, brushstrokesand palette all always served beauty.

Can beauty ever be unpopular? Canthe world, which seems so rapt andwrapped up in the face of power, makeus forget about beauty? Can Chase’s art,or anyone’s ar t, for that matter, make usremember? Strange thought.

William Mer ritt Chase (1849-1916) , The Open Air Breakfast , ca. 1888. Oil on canvas, 37 ⁄ x 56¾in. Toledo Museum of Art. Purchased with fundsfrom the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest inMemory of her father, Maurice A. Scott.

June 4-September 11William Merritt Chase:A RetrospectiveThe Phillips Collection1600 21 st Street NorthwestWashington, DC 20009

t: (202) 387-2151www.phillipscollection.org

In the Service of Beauty, William Merritt Chase

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