Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000231About the Artwork
Dora Wheeler became Chase's first student when he returned from overseas study in Munich and set up a teaching studio in New York. At the time, few American artists accepted women as private pupils. After her course of study, Wheeler joined her mother in launching a successful decorating firm, one of the first businesses in the country to be operated entirely by women. For the firm, she designed luxurious textiles, and the embroidered silk tapestry that fills the background in her portrait references her occupational interest. Chase's portrait was awarded a gold medal at an international exhibition of contemporary art in Munich in 1883, and later that year was also shown in Paris. At some later point, the painting was acquired by the sitter, who subsequently donated it to the museum.
Inscriptions
signed lower right: WM M. Chase [WM in monogram]
Provenance
1883-1921: Dora Wheeler, later Mrs. Boudinot Keith [1856-1940], New York, NY, by donation to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1921-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
Exhibition history
The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936). Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 Until Today. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-October 4, 1937). Painting Today and Yesterday in the United States. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA (organizer) (June 5-September 1, 1941). The First West Coast Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by William Merritt Chase. Art, Design & Architecture Museum, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA (organizer) (October 6-November 8, 1964); Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, La Jolla, CA (December 1-27, 1964); Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA (January 10-February 7, 1965); Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA (March 3-April 4, 1965); The Gallery of Modern Art, New York, NY (April 27-May 30, 1965). Heritage and Horizon: American Painting 1776 - 1976. Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY (organizer) (March 7-April 11, 1976); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (May 2-June 13, 1976); The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH (July 4-August 15, 1976); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 8-October 10, 1976). Portraiture: The Image of the Individual. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 22, 1983-January 22, 1984). American Impressionism, Images "of hope, of life, of promise". Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA (organizer) (October 4, 1997-January 4, 1998). Candace Wheeler: The Art and Enterprise of American Design, 1875-1900. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (October 10, 2001-January 6, 2002). Cleveland Collects American Art of the Gilded Age. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 23-May 18, 2003). After Whistler: The Artist and His Influence on American Painting. High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA (organizer) (November 22, 2003-February 8, 2004); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (March 13-June 6, 2004). CMA Highlights. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 21-September 11, 2005). Americans in Paris. National Gallery, London, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (February 22-May 21, 2006); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA (June 25-September 24, 2006); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (October 16, 2006-January 28, 2007). William Merritt Chase: A Modern Master. The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC (organizer) (June 4-September 11, 2016); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA (October 9, 2016-January 16, 2017).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 7, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- William Merritt Chase (American, 1849–1916)
- Date
- 1882–83
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 180.6 x 188.6 x 11 cm (71 1/8 x 74 1/4 x 4 5/16 in.); Unframed: 159.8 x 166.4 cm (62 15/16 x 65 1/2 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- American Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. Boudinot Keith in memory of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade
- Accession no.
- 1921.1239
More by William Merritt Chase in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00000231
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