Background

Operating primarily in the United States during the latter half of the nineteenth century, William Merritt Chase cultivated an innovative and unique artistic style. During a time in which there was not an inherently “American” school of art, he managed to stand out against a sea of “Europeanized” painters by combining his own ideas with those of the popular European artistic movements.

Late in the nineteenth century, Europe saw an emergence of modern artistic movements, all of which aimed to adapt art to the ever-modernizing world. A departure from academic History painting, many of these movements sought to depict real life by using subject matter that alluded to everyday life rather than idealized scenes and moral stories. The Impressionists aimed to represent real life through careful observation of the way light could change their subject’s appearance throughout the course of a day, hoping to emphasize the dynamic nature of life. The Realists, on the other hand, maintained a similar visual vocabulary to the History painters, however they used subjects from the lower economic classes in order to emphasize the changing role of art in the modernizing world.

The influence of European art movements is evident in Chase’s work throughout his career. Like several artists of the late nineteenth century, he utilized a soft palette and paid close attention to the way light reflected on his subject, which is reminiscent of the way the Impressionists painted. Chase was also apparently influenced by Realism, as we see in many of his paintings a modern, urbanized landscape, perhaps dotted with a lonely, solitary figure.

Object Information: Chase in Brooklyn

Though he studied and painted 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 the Northern painters in Chase’s use of rich pigmentation and shadow and light. His likeliness to paint landscape scenes reminds us of Impressionist subject matter, foregoing the past conventions of portraiture and history paintings.

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 an indigenous scene.

Technique

Chase’s work may be interpreted through an Impressionistic lens, as the brushwork and color indicate his interest in working with natural light to form his subjects. Like the Impressionists, Chase has taken care to suggest in his painting 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. As a whole, the brushwork comes together to signify a generally demure mood and tonality to the piece.

Artist

William Merritt Chase’s life typifies the American dream: his humble roots gave way to respectable reputation and creative success. Born in 1849 in a small town in Indiana, he was a self-made man with a true zeal for the art world. Chase’s father was a shopkeeper and his modest beginnings would ultimately have a great impact on his appreciation for the world in which he lived. Having trained with portraitist Barton S. Hays in Indianapolis early in his career, Chase wanted more for himself and his career. In order to get out of Indiana, the artist enlisted in the Navy in 1867 and moved to Annapolis.

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 Royal Academy. Chase was very open to the myriad of European styles he learned about in Munich, and was influenced by the works of the past by Northern artists like Van Dyke and Rubens as well as by contemporary French Realism. His six years spent training abroad 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, an American school of fine arts founded in 1875 when the National Academy announced it would no longer fund its formal education system. 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. A board comprised of both students and teachers was elected annually to be the governing body of this democratic organization, overseeing all aspects of the League. Chase was very well thought of among League students and was generally considered one of its most well known teachers.

The following decade was to be a period of personal and artistic growth for the artist; he continued to spend summers in Europe through 1885, married in 1886, and had established his career as an American artist by 1887. His wealth of knowledge about European artistic styles elevated his status and he grew well respected in the New York artists’ community.

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.

Jane Braun (2007)