Classification: Painting
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William Merritt Chase
American, 1849–1916
"Girl with a Book" was presented to MMFA in 1941 as a gift of Louise Lyons Heustis (American, 1865-1951), who was a student of William Merritt Chase. A newspaper account dated December 1, 1910 from the "Mobile Register" states that Heustis obtained the work, which Chase painted as a demonstration piece, as a prize. The model is unknown, but is most likely another of Chase's students. The Chase Archives has a photo of this work taken by the artist Frank Wadsworth, who was a student at Chase's Shinnecock Hills summer school in the summer of 1902, when it is believed that Chase made this work as an instructional exercise.
Chase embraced a method of rapid working as a replacement for the more staid European approach to portraiture. He argued and presented this point through “painting demonstrations” of works such as "Girl with a Book", which combined dark and luminous tonalities with the immediacy of vibrant brushwork. Dressing the model in a kimono is reflective of a fascination with Oriental imagery apparent in Chase’s work dating from the 1880’s.
American Paintings from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 2006, cat. no. 26, p. 84.
American, 1849–1916
Girl with a Book
1902
Object Type:
Painting
Creation Place:
North America, American, New York
Dimensions:
70 in. x 40 in. (177.8 cm x 101.6 cm)
Medium and Support:
Oil on canvas
Accession Number:
1941.0021
Credit Line:
Gift of Miss Louise Lyons Heustis
"Girl with a Book" was presented to MMFA in 1941 as a gift of Louise Lyons Heustis (American, 1865-1951), who was a student of William Merritt Chase. A newspaper account dated December 1, 1910 from the "Mobile Register" states that Heustis obtained the work, which Chase painted as a demonstration piece, as a prize. The model is unknown, but is most likely another of Chase's students. The Chase Archives has a photo of this work taken by the artist Frank Wadsworth, who was a student at Chase's Shinnecock Hills summer school in the summer of 1902, when it is believed that Chase made this work as an instructional exercise.
Chase embraced a method of rapid working as a replacement for the more staid European approach to portraiture. He argued and presented this point through “painting demonstrations” of works such as "Girl with a Book", which combined dark and luminous tonalities with the immediacy of vibrant brushwork. Dressing the model in a kimono is reflective of a fascination with Oriental imagery apparent in Chase’s work dating from the 1880’s.
American Paintings from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 2006, cat. no. 26, p. 84.
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