This is a painting of William Merritt Chase’s daughters picking wildflowers in a field outside their Long Island home. Here, the artist embraced certain Impressionist techniques, visible in the delicate, feathery brushwork and use of color to create a play of light and indicate the endless sky. This painting is one in a series that Chase executed while teaching at Shinnecock Hills Summer School on eastern Long Island. A celebrated portrait painter, Chase was also a dedicated art teacher. On the urging of one of his patrons, he opened Shinnecock in 1891 and taught there until 1902; there he adopted the method of painting directly from nature and held his classes outdoors.
Website label, July 2016. Written by Brandon Ruud, Abert Family Curator of American Art.
