Winter 2016

Winter 122 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com In early October 2011, I received a phone call from Elsa Smithgall, who introduced herself as a curator from the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. Because I had overseen the publication (assisted by Carrie Lane) of Ronald G. Pisano’s The Complete Catalogue of Known and Documented Work by William Merritt Chase (1849–1916) (Yale University Press, 2010), Elsa wanted to discuss plans for organizing a Chase retrospective exhibition to mark the hundredth anniversary of his death. Two weeks after our phone call I met Elsa in New York. We poured through the four volumes of the Chase catalogue raisonné. Elsa proved to have an abundance of infectious enthusiasm for the job ahead. Over the next few months we discussed the exhibition and developed a working checklist. It was deemed necessary to partner with at least one additional American museum. Although Chase had exhibited widely in Europe, there had never been a solo exhibition of his work outside of the United States; the timing seemed right to also pursue an arrangement with a European museum. Munich was on the list because of Chase’s years at the Munich Royal Academy as a student in the 1870s. Italy was also a strong consideration given Chase’s close ties to that country. Chase first visited Venice in 1877 at the beginning of his career, and last visited in 1913 with his summer school students in tow for a seven- week course of study. Moreover, he set down roots in Italy with his purchase of a villa just outside Florence in 1910. Accordingly, Elsa went to Europe to meet with several museum curators to discuss the project, making it clear that “From the outset, the vision for the project was to shine a light on Chase as both a preeminent American artist and a celebrated international figure who has made a lasting contribution to the history of modern art.” In fall 2012, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, joined the venture, represented by Erica Hirschler, an expert on John Singer Sargent (who painted Chase’s portrait in 1902). The Terra Foundation for American Art also came on board, bringing the Paris-based Impressionist scholar Katie top William Merritt Chase (1849–1916) Self-Portrait, about 1884 Pastel on laminated paperboard with a sand coating, 17¼ x 13½ inches An MFA Honorary Trustee and Her Spouse; courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. bottom William Merritt Chase (1849–1916) The Young Orphan (An Idle Moment), by 1884 Oil on canvas, 44 x 42 inches National Academy Museum, New York; courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston