TitleRobert Blum
Artist
William Merritt Chase
(American, 1849 - 1916)
Date1888
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 21 1/8 × 17 1/8 in.
Framed: 26 5/8 × 22 1/4 × 2 1/8 in.
SubmissionANA diploma presentation, March 18, 1889
Credit LineNational Academy of Design, New York, NY
Object number228-P
Label TextChase and Blum were intimate friends and depicted one another a number of times. Frequent traveling companions, they went to Europe in 1881, 1882, and 1884, the latter trip resulting in Chase's painting of Blum in his Zandvoort, Holland, garden, "A Summer Afternoon in Holland" (Sunlight and Shadow) (1884, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebr.). They shared many interests, including Japanese and Spanish art and the pastel medium. In 1884 they helped found the Society of Painters in Pastel and jointly organized its first exhibition that year. Both were elected Associate members of the Academy on April 19, 1888, but Chase did not paint Blum's diploma portrait until September (Weber, 311).Chase was criticized often for his emotional disengagement from his subjects. Commenting on his portraiture, Samuel Isham saw "no more attachment to [his sitters'] personalities than if they were brass pots or Kennebec salmon." Yet perhaps because of his bond with Blum, Chase here created an affecting, penetrating likeness that emotionally transcends much of his oeuvre.
The date inscribed on the reverse of the painting refers to its point of acquisition by the Academy and would have been applied by a hand other than Blum's.
Collections
- Artist Portrait Highlights from the Collection
