CHASE, William Merritt
(b. 1849, Williamsburg, d. 1916, New York)

The Shinnecock Hills

1893-97
Oil on panel, 44 x 55 cm
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Teaching in public or state art schools by artists associated with Impressionism was of central imporrtance in the American dissemination of the new art and its ideas. Summer schools devoted to open-air painting became established in the 1890s as an integral part of American art teaching. The most popular and successful of the schools was the Shinnecock Summer School, opened on Long Island in 1891. It was founded by William Merrit Chase who taught the methods and practice of open-air painting there for twelve consecutive summers.

This panel depicts a simple spot near the artist's house. The simplicity of the landscape, in which very few elements stand out, indicates Chase's search for beauty in the simplest things.




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