Self Portrait

ca. 1914

William Merritt Chase American, 1849-1916

On View

American, Level 2, West Wing

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Provenance

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Published References

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About the Artwork

William Merritt Chase cultivated a reputation as a stylish dandy. His impeccable garb cut a wide swath in the paint-spattered artist studios he frequented in New York. Georgia O’Keeffe recalled about her days as Chase’s student at the Art Students League, “He arrived for class in a silk hat, flower in his buttonhole, fur-lined coat, very light gloves, spats, and a neat brown suit. When he entered the building, a rustle seemed to flow from the ground floor to the top that ‘Chase has arrived!’”

In this self-portrait painted only two years before his death, Chase depicted himself with a neatly trimmed beard, monocle, crisp white collar, and a fresh flower in his lapel. He gave this painting to the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1916, ensconcing his artistic self-presentation in the museum’s collection.

Title Self Portrait

Artwork Date ca. 1914

Artist William Merritt Chase

Life Dates 1849-1916

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 24 × 20 inches (61 × 50.8 cm) Framed: 32 9/16 × 28 13/16 × 2 13/16 inches (82.7 × 73.2 × 7.1 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department American Art before 1950

Credit Gift of the artist

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 16.16

Markings

Signed Signed, lower left: Wm. M. Chase

Provenance

William Merritt Chase;
1916-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Pan American Exposition. Exh. cat., San Francisco. 1915, no. 3740.

Chase, William Merritt. "Painting [speech to the American Federation of the Arts, Washington, D.C., 1916]." The American Magazine of Art 8, no. 2 (December 1916): pp. 50-53.

Burroughs, Clyde H. “Accessions: Self Portrait of William M. Chase, Esq.” Bulletin of the DMA 10, no. 9 (May 1916): pp. 1-2.

Paintings by William Merritt Chase, N.A., and Paintings by William Ritschel, N.A. Exh. cat., DIA. Detroit, 1916.

The Eleventh Annual Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. Exh. cat., The Albright Art Gallery. Buffalo, New York, 1917, no. 29 (ill.).

Paintings by William Merritt Chase. Exh. cat., Newhouse Galleries. St. Louis, 1927, p. 8 (ill.).

Exhibition of American Paintings from Colonial Times Until Today. Exh. cat., Saginaw Museum. Saginaw, Michigan, 1948, no. 8 (ill.).

Chase Centennial Exhibition. Exh. cat., John Herron Art Museum. Indianapolis, 1949, n.p.

Retrospective Exhibition of William Merritt Chase. Exh. cat., Parrish Art Museum. Southampton, New York, 1957, no. 86.

The First West Coast Retrospective Exhibition of Painting by William Merritt Chase, 1849-1916. Exh. cat., California University Art Gallery. Santa Barbara, 1964, no. 45.

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