The Inner Studio, Tenth Street 1882

William Merritt Chase painted this intimate scene of his studio using oil on canvas. Notice how the textures and forms in the painting aren't just represented; they're evoked by Chase's very handling of the paint. The thick impasto of the gilded frame suggests its weight and opulent materiality. The draped fabrics – likely imported – hint at the global trade networks that fed the art world of the late 19th century. Look closely and you’ll see the array of objects that litter the studio space: vases, fabrics, frames, and furniture. All of these are raw materials for Chase, not just in the sense that he paints them, but also in that he actively curates them, arranging them into carefully constructed scenes of bohemian excess. Chase isn't just depicting a space; he's showing us the engine room of artistic production, where taste and commerce intertwine, and where the artist's own labor is both celebrated and obscured. It reminds us that art making is a process embedded in a broader world of materials and markets.