October 9, 2016–January 16, 2017

William Merritt Chase

William Merritt Chase (1849–1916) was a brilliant observer, an innovative painter, and a leader in international art circles at the turn of the last century. Rediscover this important and overlooked master, praised for his artistic skill in both oil and pastel, as well as for the variety of his subjects: sympathetic images of women, jewel-like landscapes, views of urban parks, and scenes of children at play. The first complete examination of the artist in more than three decades, “William Merritt Chase” brings together 80 of the painter’s finest works in both oil and pastel, drawn from public and private collections across the US. This major international traveling exhibition, co-organized by The Phillips Collection (Washington, DC), the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Fondazione Musei Civici Venezia (Venice), and the Terra Foundation for American Art, sheds new light on the work of one of our country’s leading American Impressionists.

An exhibition catalogue, William Merritt Chase: A Modern Master, with five essays by prominent scholars of American art, is published by Yale University Press in association with the Phillips Collection.

Above: William Merritt Chase, The Young Orphan (An Idle Moment), 1884. Oil on canvas. NA diploma presentation, November 24, 1890. National Academy Museum, New York (221-P).

  • Ann and Graham Gund Gallery (Gallery LG31)

Sponsors

William Merritt Chase was organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC; the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia; and the Terra Foundation for American Art.

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The exhibition and its publication were made possible with the generous support of the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Presented with generous support from The Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts, Inc., and the Deedee and Barrie A. Wigmore Fund in honor of Malcolm Rogers. Additional support from the Betty L. Heath Paintings Fund for the Art of the Americas, and Eugenie Prendergast Memorial Fund, made possible by a grant from Jan and Warren Adelson.

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Media Sponsor is WCVB Channel 5 Boston.