  About the Artwork
  
  
  “Little” Dorothy, fully enveloped by the frilly volume of her dress and cape, stands in front of a massive gilt-framed painting in the studio of her father, William Merritt Chase. Early viewers praised the loving affection the painter brought to this portrait. In 1897, in Arts for America, a critic pronounced, “No one can stand before such a painting without forgetting the trials of the day and entering at once in the unrestrained happiness of childhood.”

Dorothy Bremond Chase (1891 – 1953) was about three years old when her father painted this cheerful and loving portrait. The artist and his wife, Alice Gerson Chase (1866 – 1927), had eight children who filled their homes in New York City and Long Island. Dorothy was their fourth. Chase was a doting father, and his children were frequent subjects.
  
  
  Title
  My Little Daughter Dorothy
  
  
  Artwork Date
  ca. 1894
  
  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.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Oil on canvas
  
  
  Dimensions
  Unframed: 48 × 33 inches (121.9 × 83.8 cm)
  Framed: 52 3/4 × 37 3/4 × 2 inches (134 × 95.9 × 5.1 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  American Art before 1950
  
  
  Credit
  Gift of Mrs. Arthur McGraw
  
  
  
  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.
  
  
  
  31.27
  
  
  Copyright
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