For the Little One

William Merritt Chase

ca. 1896 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

"For the Little One" shows Chase’s wife, Alice, in the entry hall of the couple’s summer home at Shinnecock, in the town of Southampton, Long Island, New York. The artist captured her engaged in a genteel handicraft with a maternal subtext: sewing a bit of apparel for a “little one,” presumably one of the five children in the Chase family by 1895. While he included in the scene decorative elements that conjured the aesthetic atmosphere of their residence, Chase focused more intently on the effects of light, demonstrating his command of plein-air painting, even with an indoor subject.

Artist

William Merritt Chase

Date

ca. 1896

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Amelia B. Lazarus Fund, by exchange, 1917