A City Park
William Merritt Chase (American, 1849–1916)
c. 1887
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- 34.6 × 49.9 cm (13 5/8 × 19 5/8 in.)
- Culture
- New York City
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of the Americas
- Credit line
- Bequest of Dr. John J. Ireland
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
In the late 1880s, William Merritt Chase painted a series of works focused on the public parks of Brooklyn and Manhattan, including A City Park. Amid rapid growth in New York and other US cities, such green spaces offered respite as well as novel venues for social activity. Inspired by the works of French Impressionism, Chase experimented with dramatic spatial effects, open brushwork, and a high-keyed palette. The composition’s small scale suggests that the artist painted the canvas outdoors, opting for portable materials to work on-site in an urban setting.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
