William Merritt Chase, the Teacher

"Japanese Print" by William Merritt Chase

"William Merritt Chase once said: 'I believe I am the father of more art children than any other teacher.' He had classes in New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Hartford and Chicago. He taught altogether twenty-one years at the Art League, twelve years at the New York School of Art, thirteen years in Philadelphia and five in Brooklyn, in addition to the classes held in his own studio. He had summer classes in California, England, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Spain, and taught for eleven summer at Shinnecock. Also while he was teaching in Philadelphia Chase had a free class for students who could not afford to pay for instruction.

'Association with my pupils has kept me young in my work,' he often said. 'Criticism of their work has kept my own point of view clear.' His criticism was always a painter's criticism, suggestive rather than explicit. To the honest young student in the museum who said she did not like the Manet 'Woman with the Parrot,' his kindly amused reply, 'No? Oh, but you will,' was always remembered. Concerning those things that can come only with the growth of perception, he did not instruct but left them to time. 

Other well known words of advice to his students were: 

'Don't try to make comparisons between your own pictures. Forget what you have done and think only of making the best of what you are doing.'

'Combine a certain amount of indifference with your ambition. Be carefully careless. If you don't succeed today, there is always tomorrow.'

'Do not try to paint the grandiose thing. Paint the commonplace so that it will be distinguished.'

'When you begin to wonder what to do, stop.'

Essential artist that he was, he was ever humble before the great spirit of art. In his mind there remained always the distance between his ideal and his achievement, a deep feeling expressed once when, after showing a number of his pictures to a guest, he pointed to a blank canvas. 'But that is my masterpiece,' he said, 'my unpainted picture.'"

To be continued

(Excerpts from "The Life and Art of William Merritt Chase" by Katharine Metcalf Roof.)