William Merritt Chase: Landscapes in Oil (Complete Catalogue of Known and Documented Work By William Merritt Chase (1849-1916))
This third volume in a four-part catalogue raisonnÃ© on Chase covers Chase's paintings of the 1880s and early 1890s and reproduces a variety of paintings (49 in black and white, 209 in color) that together give marvelous insight into his exemplary depiction of light and shadow. Much of his work shows various vantages of Shinnecock Hills, Long Island, and surrounding environs in New York; however, Chase's trips to Munich, Spain, and Italy helped the progression of his skills, and some work done overseas is included. Pisano, who was curator of the Heckscher Museum of Art, painstakingly researched documentation of Chase's works to create this complete retrospective but unfortunately passed away before the project was completed; this volume was finished by Ph.D. candidate Carolyn K. Lane. One cannot help but wonder, in spite of the thoroughness of representation and documentation of paintings, if Pisano would have added essays or other writings to flesh out Chase as a man and artist. Even without extra text, this volume serves a valuable purpose for scholars of art and art history.—Nadine Dalton Speidel, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, OHCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.