Art historian Ulrich W. Hiesinger summarized Chase as follows: “In his per-
sonal habits, his teaching, his comportment, and in his development as an artist, he
was a law unto himself.” So he was, absorbing infl uences from traditional and mod-
ern sources and creating a personal and idiosyncratic art. Chase was sensitive to the
individual needs of his students, and chronicled his love for his family in some of
the most beautiful portraits, interiors and landscapes in American art. Th is supreme
extrovert was most himself when painting close to home and close to his heart. ■
JERRY N. WEISS teaches at the Art Students League of New York. Visit his website at jerrynweiss.com.
ABOVE: The Young Orphan (ca 1884;
oil on canvas, 44x42) paraphrases
Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1,
though the incandescent red and
the model’s direct gaze suggest a
different subtext. Paint was dragged
across a canvas of extremely rough
weave, and the fi gure’s contours
seem to melt into the surface.NATIONAL ACADEMY MUSEUM, NEW YORKDECEMBER 2016 53
46_tam1216Chase.indd 53 9/22/16 8:34 AM