On display are his portraits, landscapes, domestic scenes, and still life paintings. Chase made everyday objects — like onions and fish — gorgeous. The dead, silver fish spread out on platters look as if they could leap off the plate in a second. Chase often painted fish during class demonstrations at his New York School of Art, says curator Katherine Bourguignon of the Terra Foundation for American Art.
“The students write about this: He went to the fish market, bought the fish, he painted it, and returned the fish before it went bad,” she explains says.
“You walk around these galleries and the paintings are gutsy and bold and scintillating and brilliant,” says Dorothy Kosinski, director of the Phillips.
On display are his portraits, landscapes, domestic scenes, and still life paintings. Chase made everyday objects — like onions and fish — gorgeous. The dead, silver fish spread out on platters look as if they could leap off the plate in a second. Chase often painted fish during class demonstrations at his New York School of Art, says curator Katherine Bourguignon of the Terra Foundation for American Art.
“The students write about this: He went to the fish market, bought the fish, he painted it, and returned the fish before it went bad,” she explains says.
That’s how fast he was! Loaded with charisma, confidence and brushes thickly caked with paint, his strokes were sure and stunning.
Source: Meet William Merritt Chase, The Man Who Taught America’s Artistic Masters : NPR
