Still Life - Flowers 

William Merritt Chase made this still life painting of flowers with oil on canvas during a time of increasing urbanization and industrialization in America. The image speaks to its cultural context through visual codes of luxury. It does so by presenting a lavish display of fresh flowers in a silver vase alongside a smaller blue glass vessel. The arrangement is set atop a draped cloth, alluding to domestic comfort. Made during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, such displays were popular among the emerging middle class. Chase, who was also an influential teacher, here makes use of conventions of academic painting to celebrate the beauty of the natural world as an escape from the harsh realities of modern life. He uses painterly brushstrokes and rich colors to create a sense of depth and texture, inviting the viewer to appreciate the simple pleasures of life. The meaning of art is always contingent on social and institutional context. Understanding this particular moment in history involves studying the role of art academies, the rise of consumer culture, and changing attitudes toward nature and domesticity.