Nude, c. 1901

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 50.6 x 41 cm (19 15/16 x 16 1/8 in.)

framed: 61.6 x 51.3 x 4.4 cm (24 1/4 x 20 3/16 x 1 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

Accession Number

1995.47.1

Artists / Makers

William Merritt Chase (painter) American, 1849 - 1916

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Inscription

lower right: Chase.

Provenance

Content Johnson [d. 1949], New York, about 1901; Mrs. J.A. Bennet, New York, by 1948; by inheritance to her granddaughter [name unknown], until 1980; (Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York); private collection, 1983-1984; sold March 1984 to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Upperville, Virginia; gift 1995 to NGA.

Associated Names

Bennet, J.A., Mrs.
Hirschl & Adler Galleries
Johnson, Content
Mellon, Paul
Private Collection (NGA Former Owner)

Exhibition History

1917: Loan Exhibition of Paintings by William M. Chase, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1917, no. 11.

1928: Exhibition of the Works of William Merritt Chase, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, 1928, no. 6.

1948: William M. Chase 1849-1916. A Selected Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings, American British Art Center, New York, 1948, no. 23, as The Red Shawl.

1984: The Art of Collecting, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., New York, 1984, no. 33, repro., as Seated Nude from the Rear.

2007: Loan to display with permanent collection, Academy Art Museum, Easton, Maryland, 2007-2008.

Technical Summary

The support is a medium-weight twill fabric that has been lined. A cool beige ground was applied overall and covers the tacking margin remnants on the bottom, left, and top edges of the painting. The initial sketch outlining the sitter's contours is probably graphite. Paint was fluidly applied in the hair and background, and more thickly, with brushmarkings left visible, in the flesh tones. The thin varnish layer has not discolored and the painting is in very good condition, with only a tiny retouch at the lower center edge.

Bibliography

1949: Peat, Wilbur D. "Checklist of Known Work by William M. Chase." In Chase Centennial Exhibition. Exh. cat. John Herron Art Institute, 1949: unpaginated, as The Red Shawl (Nude).

1996: Kelly, Franklin, with Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr., Deborah Chotner, and John Davis. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 60, color repro. 61.