William Merritt Chase at the Museum of Fine Arts

Franklin Einspruch | The New Criterion | 12th January 2017

By his mid-30’s Chase was among America’s most famous artists. Then along came Impressionism. His stylistic response was too little, too late and as the fullness of modernism unfolded, he became a forgotten figure. Notwithstanding some glib works, is history’s judgement too harsh?  With maturity, his technical ability and painters eye allowed him to move “the ordinary subject … into the realm of the timeless.”