A Venetian Balcony

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

A Venetian Balcony 1913 William Merritt Chase

It was not until the example of the French Impressionists that outdoor studies gained widespread acceptance in America as finished works, able to stand on their own merits. This may well have been due in part to the exhibition brought to New York by the Paris dealer Durand-Ruel in 1886. The 289 Impressionists’ works that were shown at the American Art Association in April of that year caused a sensation among American art collectors and artists alike.

Among the artists to see the Impressionists’ show that April was William Merritt Chase. Chase had received a formal education in classical painting in Europe and had become very successful and well-known on the east coast for his portraits, interiors and light-filled paintings of the newly established parks around New York. His fabulously-decorated studio on Tenth Street in New York was a famous gathering spot for all the leading artists of the day. In 1891, with the…