Wind-Swept Sands

William Merritt Chase (American, 1849–1916)

1894

Medium
Oil on canvas
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
87 × 101.5 cm (34 1/4 × 39 3/4 in.)
Culture
Long Island
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of the Americas
Credit line
Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. Eric Oldberg in honor of Milo M. Naeve; Friends of American Art and R. H. Love Galleries funds; Walter Aitken Endowment; through prior acquisitions of the Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed

View at the Art Institute of Chicago

About this work

Between 1891 and 1902, William Merritt Chase painted numerous landscapes of the area surrounding the Shinnecock Summer Art School in Long Island, New York, where he was an influential teacher. In Wind-Swept Sands, Chase used rapid brushstrokes to depict the dunes and vegetation, thin washes for the sky, and an overall gray tone to indicate an overcast day. Chase’s teaching method was rooted in the French Impressionist practice of painting outdoors in order to take advantage of natural light and changing weather conditions.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0