Photographed by Scott Wolff. Color corrected by Pat Cagney.

Still Life (Fish from the Adriatic)

Artist William Merritt Chase (American, 1849-1916)

CultureAmerican

Dateca. 1907-14

MediumOil on panel

Dimensions25 3/4 x 21 1/4 in. (65.4 x 54 cm)
Overall, Frame: 34 1/2 x 39 x 2 3/4 in. (87.6 x 99.1 x 7 cm)

InscribedSigned lower right: Wm. M. Chase

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.847

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 218

DescriptionThis is an oil on panel painting. The dark background foils the lighting on the silvery scales of the fish. Three fish are arranged in different directions on the table. The largest is on a silver platter and faces diagonally into the background; it is leaning on another fish whose gaping mouth and open yellow eyes stare at the viewer. The smallest lies on the table the foreground. The only other object depicted is a large covered earthenware jar of a warm gray color in the background.

Label TextWilliam Merritt Chase American, 1849–1916 Still Life (Fish from the Adriatic), ca. 1907–14 Oil on panel William Merritt Chase’s Still Life brings unexpected elegance to this simple arrangement of dead fish. The artist was fascinated by the play of light on their scales and the subtle changes of color within a dark palette of browns and reds. By deliberately choosing unlikely, potentially uninviting objects, Chase calls attention to his Impressionist painting technique and proves his ability to transform even the most mundane things into an exquisite work of art. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.847 ProvenanceAnnie Traquair Lang (d. 1918); her estate; sold by American Art Galleries in 1923 to A. Janssen (probably August Janssen) for $650 (1996 letter, Ronald Pisano); Dorothy Zolpka, private collector; James Graham and Sons, Inc., New York, June 27, 1967; Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown, 1967; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to The Chrysler Museum, 1971. Exhibition History"Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. "American Treasures at the Willoughby-Baylor House," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, January 2 - December 1, 2013. Published ReferencesDennis R. Anderson, _Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum_, exh. cat., Norfolk, Va., 1975, 153. _The Chrysler Museum: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Norfolk, Virginia_ (Norfolk: Chrysler Museum, 1982), 92. ISBN: 0-940744-37-6 Chrysler Museum _Bulletin_ 16, no. 1 (January 1986): 2. Joyce M. Szabo, "American Art - 1875-1913" _Gallery Guide_ (Norfolk: The Chrysler Museum, 1986), no. 6. 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), 129, no. 79. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6