He was an active member of many art clubs and organizations, including “The Tile Club,” the first plein-air sketching club in the United States organized in 1877. Benjamin: “A noble sense of color is perceptible in all his works, whether in the subtle tints of flesh, or in the powerful rendering of a mass of scarlet, as seen in his notable painting ‘The Court Jester.'”Īfter a year spent in Venice with his friends, fellow Impressionists Frank Duveneck and John Henry Twachtman, Chase established a studio on Tenth Street in New York. Distinguishing itself with its warmly saturated scarlets and golds and a delicate sense of articulation, the painting was very well received when submitted for exhibition at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, earning Chase a Medal of Honor and immediately establishing him as an up and coming artist of note.Īs described by contemporary critic of his time, S.G.W. Initially exhibited for the Boston Art Club in 1876, the painting depicts a rosy-cheeked court jester hunched over in his scarlet and gold costume and pouring himself (perhaps another) glass of wine. Louis, and at the Royal Academy in Munich, Germany before finding his first great success with his 1875 painting Keying Up – The Court Jester. Ĭhase is a landmark figure in the history of American painting, a turn of the century Impressionist with a deft hand for shadow and color, a highly sought-after portraitist, and an esteemed educator and founder of one of America’s greatest artistic institutions.īorn in Indiana in 1849, Chase studied art in New York, St. Image courtesy of Gray’s AuctioneersĬLEVELAND – A previously undiscovered work by William Merritt Chase has been authenticated and will be auctioned on May 7 by Gray’s Auctioneers, with absentee and Internet live bidding available through LiveAuctioneers. William Merritt Chase (American, 1849-1916), Jester Resting on a Chair, 1875.
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