Seventeenth Century Lady
William Merritt Chase, ca. 1895
About this artwork
William Merritt Chase's *Seventeenth Century Lady*ca. 1895), an oil on canvas measuring 36½ × 23¾ inches, captures a woman in 1890s attire viewed from behind in a shadowy interior. A sliver of light from a slightly opened door pierces the darkness, illuminating her luminous white gown. Despite the evoking 17th-century elegance, the modern clothing highlights Chase's whimsical challenge to artistic conventions, created at the peak of his career as one of America's foremost painters and teachers. Chase's bravura technique shines in his masterful tonal painting, with subtle gradations and expressive brushwork rendering the fabric's texture. He drew freely from old masters like Frans Hals, Rembrandt, and Velázquez, as well as contemporaries such as Manet and Whistler, prioritizing light, form, and atmosphere over the sitter's identity. This approach exemplifies his role in bridging European modernism with American art. Housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing (George A. Hearn Fund, 1906), the painting underscores Chase's influence at the Art Students League, where he mentored future icons like Georgia O'Keeffe and Charles Demuth, shaping generations of American artists.