William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase was an American Impressionist artist who lived from 1849 to 1916. He is mostly known for his portraits of prominent people of his day, though he was an avid landscape and genre painter as well.
Chase displayed an early interest in art and studied in the studios of several artists before entering the National Academy of Design in New York City. Unfortunately, he was only enrolled for a short time before family misfortune forced him to leave New York City for St. Louis. While in St. Louis, Chase started to make a name for himself, selling his art and winning awards. His reputation earned him a two-year paid trip to Europe by patrons looking to strengthen their own art collections. While in Europe, William Merritt Chase studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Germany, where he learned a new style of painting. This new style employed more loose and rapid brush strokes; what is known to us today as Impressionism.
In 1878, Chase moved back home to the States and became totally immersed in the art world, displaying work at the Society for American Artists, joining the artist group called the Tilers with other notable artists such as Winslow Homer, and opening his very own studio in New York City. Interestingly, his art studio was previously occupied by the Rocky Mountain School of Art artist, Albert Bierstadt.
Chase and his wife lived in New York City. He spent much of his time exploring the green spaces of the city for inspiration for his art. Today, Chase’s paintings provide us with a great visual record of the various parks throughout New York City towards the end of the nineteenth century. His most famous landscape series depicts both Central Park in Manhattan and Prospect Park in Brooklyn, both landmarks of the city.
Chase loved to teach. He had initially taught several pupils privately, before he decided to open the Shinnecock Hills Summer School in 1891 where he taught the plein air method to aspiring artists. In 1896, he opened the Chase School of Art, which was later renamed to the New York School of Art.
William Merritt Chase remained a well-respected artist for the rest of his life, both creating new pieces and teaching the young artists of his day, including Edward Hopper. However, Chase’s work became less popular in the twentieth century when the art world underwent a stylistic shift from Impressionism to modern art. Chase died in 1916 at 66 years of age.
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