An Italian Garden
Artist
William Merritt Chase
(American, 1849-1916)
CultureAmerican
Dateca. 1909
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions16 × 21 7/8 in. (40.6 × 55.6 cm)
Overall, Frame: 24 1/4 × 29 1/2 × 3 1/2 in. (61.6 × 74.9 × 8.9 cm)
Overall, Frame: 24 1/4 × 29 1/2 × 3 1/2 in. (61.6 × 74.9 × 8.9 cm)
InscribedSigned lower left: Wm. M. Chase.
Credit LineGift of Edward J. Brickhouse
Object number59.79.1
Not on view
DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting depicting the garden of Villa Corsi-Salviati in Sesto Fiorentino just outside Florence, Italy, in the summer of 1909. The viewer is placed on the central path in the garden. The lightness of the color and pale mauve shadows directly underneath indicate it is around noon. On the right and left of the viewer are blurred beds of color representing a myriad of flowers. The architecture of the middle ground is closely surrounded by trees and shrubs, except for a low fountain gurgling in front of an iron wrought gate. The background of this peaceful scene has cumulus clouds peaking from behind tall trees against a light blue sky.Label TextWilliam Merritt Chase American, 1849–1916 An Italian Garden, ca. 1909 Oil on canvas An American artist painting an Italian garden in a French style—William Merritt Chase’s canvas demonstrates the international reach of Impressionism. An avid teacher, Chase took his American art students on annual trips to Florence, Italy, to study the European masters. While there, he painted in the garden of the Villa Corsi-Salviati, using a dazzling medley of pure colors to capture its colorful flowers under the bright Italian sun. The fountain and sculptures of figures and animals hint at the villa’s 16th-century origins. Chase had visited the garden shortly after a major renovation restored it to its former glory. Gift of Edward J. Brickhouse 59.79.1 ProvenanceMary E. Woods; collection of Victor Spark; Edward J. Brickhouse, ca. 1930; Gift of Edward J. Brickhouse to the Chrysler Museum, 1959. Exhibition HistoryNational Academy of Design, New York, 1910. (Exh. cat. no. 356). "Americans Abroad," Knoedler & Co. New York, N.Y., March 22 - April 16, 1954/1955. "William Merritt Chase: Master of American Impressionism," Spanierman Gallery, New York, N.Y., November 2, 1994 - January 31, 1995. (Exh. checklist no. 58) "French and American Impressionism," Albany Museum of Art, Albany, Ga., September 12 - November 3, 1996. "The Changing Garden: Four Centuries of European and American Art," Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, Stanford, Calif., June 11 - September 7, 2003; The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, Tenn., October 19, 2003 - January 11, 2004; The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Mich., March 13 - May 23, 2004. "Americans in Florence: Sargent and the American Impressionists," Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy, March 2 - July 15, 2012. “The Artist’s Garden: American Impressionism and the Garden Movement, 1887- 1920,” Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, February 12 – May 24, 2015; Chrysler Museum of Art, June 16 – September 6, 2015; Reynolda House Museum of American Art, October 1, 2015 – January 3, 2016. "William Merritt Chase (1849-1916): un pittore tra New York e Venezia," Ca' Pesaro, Venice, Italy, February 11 - May 28, 2017.Published ReferencesJoyce M. Szabo, "William Merritt Chase," _The Chrysler Museum Bulletin_ 15, no. 3 (March 1985): cover. Joyce M. Szabo, "American Art - 1875-1913" _Gallery Guide_ (Norfolk: The Chrysler Museum, 1986), 3, no. 6. Jefferson C. Harrison, _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_ (Norfolk: The Chrysler Museum, 1991), 163, plate 125. Ronald G. Pisano, _Summer Afternoons: Landscape Paintings of William Merritt Chase_ (Boston: Bulfinch Press, 1993), 131. _William Merritt Chase: Master of American Impressionism_, exhib. brochure, Spanierman Gallery, New York, N.Y., 1994, not paged. Timothy Close, _French and American Impressionism_, exh. cat., Albany Museum of Art, Albany, Ga., 1996, 22. Betsy G. Fryberger, _The Changing Garden: Four Centuries of European and American Art_, exh. cat., The Iris & B. Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, Stanford, California, 2003, viii, 100. May Brawley Hill, _On Foreign Soil: American Gardeners Abroad_ (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2005), 48. Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 128, no.78. Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 70, fig. 77. Katie Campbell, _Paradise of Exiles: The Anglo-American Gardens of Florence_ (London: Frances Lincoln Limited, 2009) 114-115. Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray, _John Singer Sargent: Figures and Landscapes, 1908-1913: The Complete Paintings, Volume VIII (New Haven: Yale University Press for the Paul Melon Centre for Studies in British Art, 2014) 206, fig. 89. Anna O. Marley, ed., _The Artist's Garden: American Impressionism and the Garden Movement_ (Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2015) 139.
