Operating primarily in the United States during the latter half of the nineteenth century, the Impressionist William Merritt Chase was heavily influenced by European art movements and theories, both past and present. Chase, although clearly indebted to the Impressionist aesthetic of his time, did make reference to the Old Masters and more traditional stylistic conventions of the early 19th century.

Like the Impressionists, Chase was interested in the transitory nature of observation, and thus was interested in the effect of light. Chase painted parks predominantly, but also cityscapes and other urban settings. In this way he recognized the modern taste for portraying the contemporary world. Yet he also recognized the dramatized, historicized style of the Old Masters. This was reflected in his love for chiaroscuro, especially as seen in his portraits of Professor Angell.

Born in 1849 in a small town in Indiana, he was a self-made man with a true zeal for the art world. He trained with portraitist Barton S. Hays in Indianapolis early in his career. But Chase was ambitious and wanted more. After returning home for a brief year, Chase moved to New York in 1869, where he studied and exhibited at the National Academy of Design. Encouraged by his mentors at the Academy, he decided to move to Europe in 1872. He traveled in London and Paris, though he was based primarily in Munich at the prestigious Munich Academy. Chase was very open to the myriad of European styles he learned about in Munich, and was influenced by the Old Masters as well as contemporary French Realism. This would eventually become the foundation of his distinctive style.

Upon returning to New York in 1878, Chase was invited to serve on the faculty of the Art Students League. The Art Students League was a progressive center for late nineteenth century artists, and focused on the practice and theory of fine art with an emphasis on communal learning. Chase was very well thought of among League students and was generally considered one of its most well known teachers.

It was the Belgian painter Alfred Stevens who told Chase to move away from the influence of the Old Masters. Although not much else is documented about their relationship, the aesthetic similarities between the two, particularly their interior scenes, are clear. It is known that Chase was also close friends with John Singer Sargent and James McNeill Whistler, both successful American artists. Whistler’s love of urban scenes may have inspired Chase to adopt them as appropriate subject matter.

Though he studied extensively in Europe, Chase’s stateside work is some of his most significant because it represents a compromise between his own ideas and established European artistic conventions. Particularly in his landscapes, we can see the influence of Northern painters in his use of rich pigmentation, but like the Impressionists, Chase’s technique is dictated by the effect of light. Chase has taken care to suggest in View of Brooklyn Yard the colors he actually saw while he was painting; the variation of light and dark in the water reflects the way the bright sunlight hit the gentle waves, while the lack of detail in the section farthest away from the viewer might indicate a hazy day. The mood is calm and undisturbed.

His choice of a specific, contemporary, commercial scene also reminds us of the Impressionists. His connection to New York, particularly Brooklyn, inspired much of the work he completed later in his life. Chase painted several landscapes in Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Navy Yard, two of the most well known areas of the borough. In this piece, the dome of the Williamsburg Savings bank can be seen peeking out behind the treetops beyond the dock. Chase’s inclusion of this uniquely “Brooklyn” building reminds us that this is not generalized but specific to New York, and provides us with gem of an American Impressionist work.

Themes and Ideas for Teaching

• In what ways did William Merritt Chase follow European academic conventions? In what ways did he break European conventional rules?

• Compare Chase’s View of the Brooklyn Navy Yard to Whistler’s Sea and Rain: Variations in Violet and Green. What can be said about late nineteenth century American painters given that both of these men came from humble beginnings and respected the European art scene?

• Many people classify View of the Brooklyn Navy Yard as an “American Impressionist” piece. Why might this be?

Sources

“Chase, William Merritt” Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press, 13 December 2007, http://www.groveart.com/.

Cummings, Paul. “The Art Students League, Part I.” Archives of American Art Journal, Vol. 13, No. 1 (1973): 1-25

Gallati, Barbara Dayer. Modern American Landscapes, 1886 – 1890. Brooklyn, New York: Brooklyn Museum of Art in association with H. Abrams, 2000.

Gallati, Barbara Dayer. William Merrit Chase. New York, New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1995.

Weinberg, H. Barbara. “William Merritt Chase (1849–1916).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chas/hd_chas.htm (July 2011)

Jane Braun (2007)