Portrait of Dorothy 1901

William Merritt Chase painted this oil portrait of Dorothy with confident strokes, somewhere in time. The brushwork is so fresh, especially in that flurry of white that makes up her dress. It feels like the painting is still in the process of becoming. See how the strokes of white sit on top of each other, not blended but built up, each mark visible? You can almost feel the bristles dragging across the canvas. It reminds me of Manet, who also had this way of making the act of painting so present in the finished work. That directness, that embrace of the process, it’s like Chase is saying, “Here’s how I saw it, here’s how I made it.” And that honesty, that lack of fussiness, is what makes it feel so alive, even now. It’s a conversation, really, between the artist, the subject, and us, the viewers, all happening at once.