William Merritt Chase is best known today for his sunny, impressionist landscapes of parks and seasides, but during his own lifetime was one of the country’s leading still life painters. Often producing canvases that featured common kitchen items, the artist explored the objects’ varied textures through dramatic highlights to reveal their inherent beauty. Chase took great pleasure in the act of painting and in the exploration of the formal relationship between the different objects he carefully arranged commenting, “If you can paint a pot, you can paint an angel.”
Still Life (with Ginger Jar, Pumpkin and Samovar), William Merritt Chase
