Alice Gerson in Prospect Park
William Merritt Chase American
Not on view
Chase met Alice Gerson (1866–1927), whose father managed a successful New York lithography firm, in 1879 or 1880. The couple married in 1887 and settled in Brooklyn, where Chase painted his first park scenes with his wife serving as his favorite model. Significantly, the year of their marriage coincided with end of the Tile Club’s active existence, as the fraternal and economic purposes of the organization were no longer central to the New Movement artists, who increasingly represented the city’s art establishment. J. Carroll Beckwith, part of that circle and to whom Chase inscribed and gave this tonal sketch, taught with him at the Art Students League of New York.