Self-portrait: The Artist in his Studio, 1916
Oil on canvas
52 x 63 inches
Gift of Warner M. Leeds and Art Association Purchase
William Merritt Chase (1849-1916)
Born in Ninevah, Indiana and raised in Indianapolis. He studied at the National Academy of Design in New York and the Royal Academy in Munich, Germany. He became on of the most influential American artists teaching at the Art Student's League, Brooklyn Art School, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and his own school on Long Island at Shinnecock Hills.
Mr. Chase was a master of pastel and oil. The most sought after works are those done in his beloved Shinnecock Hills on Long Island. He was also highly sought as portraitist.
Chase's work is included in major private and public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Gallery, Corcorn Gallery, Chicago Art Institute, Boston Museum of Fine Art, Brooklyn Museum and the Uffizi Gallery.
Self-Portrait was commissioned for the Richmond Art Museum. Chase painted himself at his easel, artist palette in hand with his studio in the background and a blank canvas before him. In correspondence with the former director, Ella Bond Johnston, Chase commented "I painted that picture for you people in Richmond. I thought you deserved something good. I have been interested in what you have been doing in the west for art." He further went on to state that the blank canvas in the picture was " the great picture I am going to paint someday".
