Chase, William Merritt, 1849–1916, American painter, b. Williamsburg, Ind., studied in Indianapolis and in Munich under Piloty. In 1878 he began his long career as an influential teacher at the Art Students League of New York and later established his own summer school of landscape painting in the Shinnecock Hills on Long Island. Proficient in many media, Chase is best known for his spirited portraits and still lifes in oil. His Carmencita, Lady in Black, and portrait of Whistler (all: Metropolitan Mus.) and My Daughter Alice (Cleveland Mus.) are characteristic. He was president of the Society of American Artists for 10 years and a member of the National Academy of Design.

Bibliography

See K. M. Roof, Life and Art of William M. Chase (1917).

Chase, William Merritt

(born Nov. 1, 1849, Williamsburg, Ind., U.S.—died Oct. 25, 1916, New York, N.Y) U.S. painter and teacher. He studied in New York and for six years in Munich. Chase became the most important U.S. art teacher of his generation, first at New York's Art Students League and later at his own school, founded in 1896. His teachings, particularly his advocacy of fresh colour and bravura technique, greatly influenced the course of early 20th-century U.S. painting; among his students were Georgia O'Keeffe and Charles Demuth. As a painter, he was very prolific; his 2,000 paintings include portraits, interiors (e.g., In the Studio, 1880–83), figure studies, still lifes, and landscapes characterized by bold, spontaneous brushwork.

Chase, William Merritt (1849–1916) painter; born in Williamsburg, Ind. Showing a natural talent for painting, he was sent abroad in 1872 to study, funded by a group of St. Louis businessmen. Although he studied at the Munich Royal Academy, when he returned to America he had converted to the French Impressionist style and in 1878 he began teaching at the Art Students League in New York City. Both there and at his own summer school at Shinnecock, Long Island, he produced a large body of sensuously colored, detailed work, such as Lady with the White Shawl (1893), and taught a whole generation of American painters.