A Venetian Balcony 1913

William Merritt Chase made this Venetian Balcony, probably with oils, and I can imagine him stepping back and forth, from the scene in front of him, to the canvas on the easel, trying to figure out what to leave out. The thing about painting is it isn’t about the thing, it is about the painting. And here, the light streams in, and the world stops in the painting! Look how Chase places that gloopy darkness against the pure, sunlit building. What a contrast! The edges are soft, blurred, kind of like how memory works, right? I can almost see the artist now, quickly dragging the brush, the buttery pigment adhering to the weave. Artists are always talking to each other, and you can feel that in this painting. It's a feeling. Chase has definitely been looking at some Impressionist painters, probably responding to their take on what seeing is. But he’s making it his own, with that dark cabinet adding depth and mystery. It’s a real conversation, you know, a back and forth across time.