Autumn

Details

WILLIAM MERRITT CHASE (1849-1916)
Autumn
signed 'Wm. M. Chase.' (lower left)—signed again and inscribed with title (on a label affixed to the reverse)
oil on panel
12 x 18 1⁄2 in. (30.5 x 47 cm.)
Painted circa 1895.

Provenance

The artist.
Alice Chase, wife of the above, by descent, 1916.
Helen Chase Storm, daughter of the above, by descent.
Taggart & Jorgensen Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Acquired by the late owners from the above, circa 1985.

Literature

R.G. Pisano, William Merritt Chase: Landscapes in Oil, vol. III, New Haven, Connecticut, 2009, pp. 110-11, no. L.223, illustrated.

Exhibited

(Possibly) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, McClees Gallery, Exhibition of the Work of William Merritt Chase, March 1905, no. 10.
(Possibly) New York, National Academy of Design, 80th Annual Exhibition, January 1-28, 1905, no. 221 (as Autumn by the Seashore).
(Possibly) Buffalo, New York, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, 4th Annual Exhibition of American Artists, 1909, no. 56.
(Possibly) Boston, Massachusetts, Vose Gallery, Exhibition of Paintings by William M. Chase, December 1909, no. 10.
New York, National Arts Club, Exhibition of Paintings by William Merritt Chase, January 5-13, 1910, no. 25 or no. 136.
Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bridgeport Public Library, Exhibition of Fifty-Four Paintings by William M. Chase, March 1910.
Detroit, Michigan, Detroit Museum of Art; Toledo, Ohio, Toledo Museum of Art, Paintings by Wm. M. Chase, N.A. and Paintings by Wm. Ritchel, N.A., March-April 1916, no. 30.
Southampton, New York, The Parrish Art Museum, William Merritt Chase: A Retrospective Exhibition, June 30-July 27, 1957.
New York, Chapellier Galleries, 1973, pl. 69 (as Shinnecock Landscape).

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

Ronald Pisano writes, "In Autumn, Chase combines quick, vibrant brushstrokes (the vegetation in the foreground of the composition) with elegant, more deliberate brushwork (the green grass in the background). The viewer's eye is drawn from the grass to the jewel-like blue water and, beyond, to a vast cloud-strewn sky... Katherine Metcalf Roof writes of this work: 'One very small canvas in the exhibition [National Arts Club, 1910], called Autumn, characteristic of Chase's landscape manner, has a subdued harmony of russets, reds and browns. All the quality of space of a large canvas lies in its small compass, and it is a beautiful example of the manner in which he reveals the many colors of the moors, yet always quietly, so that no color starts out to affront the eye any more than it does in nature.'" (William Merritt Chase: Landscapes in Oil, vol. III, New Haven, Connecticut, 2009, pp. 110-11)

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