Artwork
Alice Gerson in Prospect Park
Alice Gerson in Prospect Park is an oil painting by the American Impressionist artist William Merritt Chase. It dates from 1886 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The composition merges portraiture with an outdoor landscape, aligning with the American Impressionist focus on everyday scenes and natural light.
The painting depicts a woman, identified as Alice Gerson, in Prospect Park alongside a boat, placing the figure within a leisurely park setting that reflects the recreational atmosphere of the late nineteenth-century American public. The composition merges portraiture with an outdoor landscape, aligning with the American Impressionist focus on everyday scenes and natural light. By situating the sitter in a public park with a boat, the work conveys themes of leisure and the growing leisure culture of the era, emphasizing the park as a space of recreation and social activity.
Technique & Style
Created in 1886, Alice Gerson in Prospect Park is executed in oil paint on a panel support. The work exemplifies the American Impressionist movement, characterized by the artist's handling of light and atmosphere within a portrait genre. The composition depicts a woman accompanied by a boat, capturing a specific moment in Prospect Park.
The physical dimensions of the panel measure 34.9 cm in height and 49.9 cm in width. This small-scale work is currently held in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
History & Provenance
The painting was created by William Merritt Chase in 1886. It depicts Alice Gerson at Prospect Park, a scene consistent with Chase's plein-air practice during his Brooklyn sojourn in the 1880s. The canvas was later accessioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains in the American Wing collection as a significant portrait within the American Impressionism movement.
Context
William Merritt Chase completed Alice Gerson in Prospect Park in 1886, an oil on panel portrait now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing. The work depicts a woman beside a boat in Prospect Park and exemplifies the tenets of American Impressionism, reflecting Chase's effort to bring European plein-air aesthetics to U.S. subjects. Its inclusion in the museum's collection and scholarly attention to Chase's role in shaping American impressionist practice underscore its significance within late-19th-century American art.
Overview
William Merritt Chase completed Alice Gerson in Prospect Park in 1886, utilizing oil on panel. This artwork presents a woman, identified as Alice Gerson, seated within a boat on a body of water in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. The painting offers a glimpse into late 19th-century leisure activities and portraiture, reflecting the artist's engagement with contemporary subjects and settings.
Artist & collection
Artist
William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849 – October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher.
