(b Williamsburg, IN, 1 Nov 1849; d New York, 25 Oct 1916). American painter and printmaker. He received his early training in Indianapolis from the portrait painter Barton S. Hays (1826–75). In 1869 he went to New York to study at the National Academy of Design where he exhibited in 1871. That year he joined his family in St Louis, where John Mulvaney (1844–1906) encouraged him to study in Munich. With the support of several local patrons, enabling him to live abroad for the next six years, Chase entered the Königliche Akademie in Munich in 1872. Among his teachers were Alexander von Wagner (1838–1919), Karl Theodor von Piloty and Wilhelm von Diez (1839–1907). Chase also admired the work of Wilhelm Leibl. The school emphasized bravura brushwork, a technique that became integral to Chase’s style, favoured a dark palette and encouraged the study of Old Master painters, particularly Diego Velázquez and Frans Hals. Among Chase’s friends in Munich were the American artists Walter Shirlaw, J. Frank Currier and Frederick Dielman (1847–1935), as well as Frank Duveneck and John H. Twachtman, who accompanied him on a nine-month visit to Venice in 1877.

• Chase, William Merritt
  • Blum, Robert Frederick
  • New York, §II, 2: Art life and organization, c 1778–1913
  • Philadelphia, §2: Art life and organization
  • USA, §III, 2: Painting and graphic arts: 19th-century developments
  • dealers
    • Knoedler, M., & Co.
  • groups and movements
    • Prints, §IV, 4(ii): Associations and societies: USA
    • Ten American Painters
  • pupils
    • Bruce, Patrick Henry
      • Bruce, Patrick Henry
    • Bunker, Dennis Miller
      • Bunker, Dennis Miller
    • Demuth, Charles (Henry Buckius)
      • Demuth, Charles
    • Dickinson, Edwin (Walter)
      • Dickinson, Edwin
    • Forbes, Elizabeth (Adela) Stanhope
      • Forbes: (2) Elizabeth Stanhope Forbes
    • Frost, A(rthur) B(urdett) (1851-1928)
      • Frost, A. B.
    • Hartley, Marsden
      • Hartley, Marsden
    • Hopper, Edward
      • Hopper, Edward
    • Kent, Rockwell
      • Kent, Rockwell
    • Li Tiefu
      • Hong Kong, §2: Art life
    • O'Keeffe, Georgia
      • O’Keeffe, Georgia
    • Pach, Walter
      • Pach, Walter
    • Pène du Bois, Guy
      • Pène du Bois, Guy
    • Schamberg, Morton Livingston
      • Schamberg, Morton Livingston
    • Sheeler, Charles (Rettew)
      • Sheeler, Charles
  • works
    • Flower painting, §2(iii): 18th–20th centuries
    • Genre, §6(ii): 1860–1900
    • Monotype, §2(iii): 19th century