Villa In Florence c. 1909

William Merritt Chase made Villa in Florence, using oil on canvas. The brushstrokes are loose, soft, and suggestive, creating a hazy atmosphere. Think of the brush dancing across the canvas, building up layers of delicate colour, shifting the image into being through experimentation, a bit of trial and error, and the odd intuitive leap. You can almost feel the warmth of the Italian sun here, see how it's diffused through the foliage. Chase was probably trying to capture a fleeting moment, working quickly en plein air. The paint isn't overworked, it's quite thin, which gives the painting a feeling of immediacy. The textures of the leaves, and stone are conjured up with a few strokes. Look at how the light catches the edges. It is very evocative of other impressionists like Monet and Renoir. Chase, like all artists, was in dialogue with other painters across time. They riffed on the ideas of those who came before, building on them and pushing painting in new directions. What do you see here? And what does it suggest to you?