119

  • Red Snapper and Still Life

  • (ca. 1884-1915)
  • William Merritt Chase (American 1849-1916)
  • Oil on canvas
  • 74.3 x 91.9 cm., 29-1/4 x 36-1/4"
  • Anonymous Gift in Memory of Lewis J. Stone (Augustana 1965), Augustana College Art Collection, with Conservation Services Donated by Mr. Barry Bauman, 91.16.1

Essay by Maggie Cooper, Class of 2015

William Merritt Chase was a master of landscape and still life painting. He was also the founder of the Chase School of American landscape painting which would later become the Parsons School of Design (Chase and Roof 14). While Chase utilized Impressionistic techniques, he also employed traditional academic realist traditions throughout his still life and landscape paintings.

Chase studied at the National Academy of Design in New York in 1872 (Metropolitan Museum of Art). Later studying in Europe, he became enthralled by flashy brushstrokes (Metropolitan Museum of Art) and simultaneously interested in the painterly realism of Old Masters such as Frans Hals and Peter Paul Rubens (Chase and Roof, 300). Chase developed an interest in still life, which he continued for the rest of his career (Sullivan Goss). He is particularly recognized as excelling in the still life of fish and could finish such paintings in a day (Metropolitan Museum of Art). The technique he used included siccative, a drier composed of metallic salts and varnish (Sullivan Goss), forcing him to work quickly before the medium dried.

Although Chase strayed away from the typical Impressionist color palette in Red Snapper and Still Life, it is obvious that he employed the fluid brushstroke of an Impressionist artist. In fact, his brushstrokes are so painterly that they make the forms appear abstract. While he did not employ a bright palette, Chase was able to make the objectss shine against the dark flat background by including rich reds and silvers.

In 1878, Chase taught at the Arts Student League in New York (Chase and Roof 57). As his success grew, he joined The Ten, a group of artists inspired by French Impressionism, eager to revolutionize American art (Sullivan Goss). At this time, Chase began to employ a lighter color palette, reflecting Impressionist color theory (Metropolitan Museum of Art). This palette is seen in his landscape paintings and was partially due to his adaption of en plein aire painting (Chase and Roof, 280). Chase’s influence as both a masterful artist and teacher promoted the advancement of modernism in the United States. Artists including Georgia O’Keefe, Rockwell Kent, Charles Sheeler and Joseph Stella joined the Chase School of Design and were extremely influenced by Chase.