An English Cod

1904

William Merritt Chase

Painter, American, 1849 - 1916

A white-skinned fish, sliced open along its belly, lies across a porcelain plate next to a brass-colored vessel in this nearly square still-life painting. The scene is loosely painted with visible brushstrokes throughout. The objects are lit from our left, and the earth-brown background is in deep shadow. At the center of the composition, the fish’s head and tail flop off the white plate, which is painted with orange and blue flowers. Four smaller, silvery fish lie in two pairs on the brown, possibly wood tabletop. One pair is near the lower right corner of the canvas, and the other is to the left of the white fish’s gaping mouth. Touches of red on the tabletop are reflected in the brass pot, which stands on short legs and has two shallow handles at the upper rim. A heavily painted area on the pot could be an ornament, like a lion’s head in relief, but details are difficult to make out. The artist signed the work in wide, sprawling letters in the lower left corner, “WM M. Chase.”

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Purchased 1905 from the artist through the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1904

  • Comparative Exhibition of Native and Foreign Arts, 1904, Under the Auspices of the Society of Art Collectors, American Fine Arts Society, New York, 1904, no. 14.

1905

  • One Hundredth Anniversary Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 23 January - 4 March 1905, no. 417.

1908

  • Third Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 30 April - 30 August 1908, no. 27.

1936

  • Main Currents in the Development of American Painting, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 16 January - 1 March 1936, no. 74, repro.

1949

  • De Gustibus: An Exhibition of American Paintings Illustrating a Century of Taste and Criticism, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 9 January - 20 February 1949, no. 35, repro.

  • Chase Centennial Exhibition, John Herron Art Museum, Indianapolis, 1 November - 11 December 1949, no. 50, repro.

1957

  • William Merritt Chase, 1849-1916: A Retrospective Exhibition, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York, 1957, no. 105, repro.

1963

  • A Century and a Half of American Paintings, Dulin Gallery of Art, Knoxville, no.19.

  • The Romantic Century, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1963, no cat.

1979

  • The Object as Subject, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979, no. 11, unpublished checklist.

1980

  • Guy Pene du Bois: Artist About Town, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha; Mary and Leigh Block Gallery, Northwestern University, Evanston, 1980-1981, no. 92, repro.

1981

  • Animals in American Art: 1880s-1980s, Nassau Country Museum of Fine Arts, Roslyn, New York,1981-1982, no. 65.

2007

  • Painterly Controversy: William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri, Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Connecticut, 2007, no. 16, repro.

2008

  • The American Evolution: A History through Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2008, unpublished checklist.

2013

  • Art and Appetite: American Painting, Culture, and Cuisine, The Art Institute of Chicago; Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, 2013-2014, no. 3, repro.

  • American Journeys: Visions of Place, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 September 2013-28 September 2014, unpublished checklist.

Bibliography

2011

  • Larkin, Susan G. "And English Cod." In Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Edited by Sarah Cash. Washington, 2011: 188-189, 275, repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: WM M. CHASE

Wikidata ID

Q46632407

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