Tickets Member | Make a Donation
Search

Lady in Black

Artist: William Merritt Chase (American, Williamsburg, Indiana 1849–1916 New York)

Date: 1888

Culture: American

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 74 1/4 x 36 5/16 in. (188.6 x 92.2 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Gift of William Merritt Chase, 1891

Accession Number: 91.11

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 774
Marietta Benedict Cotton (1868–1947) studied with Chase and became a successful society portraitist in New York and London. Chase later recalled: “One morning, a young lady came into my Tenth Street studio. . . . She came as a pupil but the moment she appeared before me I saw her only as a splendid model. . . . Such a model is a treasurefind. It is the personality that inspires, and which you depict on canvas.” An unabashed eclectic, Chase shared James McNeill Whistler’s predilection for monochromatic portraits and quoted the table at the left from John Singer Sargent’s "Madame X" (Madame Pierre Gautreau) of 1883–84 (16.53), also in the Museum's collection.
Signature: [at upper right]: Wm M. Chase
the artist (until 1891)

Essays
William Merritt Chase (1849–1916)

Timelines
The United States and Canada, 1800-1900 A.D.

Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting
American Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 3, A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born between 1846 and 1864

The American Wing (17,858)
William Merritt Chase (26)
Canvas (4,846)
Oil (1,672)
Paintings (13,286)
North and Central America (90,504)
United States (86,258)
A.D. 1800–1900 (110,580)
Related Objects
Bust of a man wearing squared white collar and facing three-quarters to the left

Bust of a man wearing squared white collar and facing three-quarters to the left

Artist: William Merritt Chase (American, Williamsburg, Indiana 1849–1916 New York) Date: mid-to late 19th century Medium: Monotype printed in brown ink Accession: 1970.505.1 On view in: Not on view
Bust of a Man Facing Front

Bust of a Man Facing Front

Artist: William Merritt Chase (American, Williamsburg, Indiana 1849–1916 New York) Date: mid-to late 19th century Medium: Monotype Accession: 1970.505.2 On view in: Not on view
Son of Carl von Piloty

Son of Carl von Piloty

Artist: William Merritt Chase (American, Williamsburg, Indiana 1849–1916 New York) Date: 19th–20th century Medium: Etching Accession: 1982.1087.2 On view in: Not on view
The Churner

The Churner

Artist: William Merritt Chase (American, Williamsburg, Indiana 1849–1916 New York) Date: ca. 1886 Medium: Etching Accession: 1982.1087.4 On view in: Not on view
Portrait of a Man, XVII Century Style

Portrait of a Man, XVII Century Style

Artist: William Merritt Chase (American, Williamsburg, Indiana 1849–1916 New York) Date: 19th–20th century Medium: Etching Accession: 1982.1087.3 On view in: Not on view