Portrait of William Gurley Munson

William Merritt Chase completed this portrait in 1868, one of his earliest works. The smoothly blended brushstrokes show dramatic improvement from his previous portraits, emulating his teacher Barton S. Hays while working within broader traditions of early American portraiture. The dark color palette reflects his later Munich training.

This Realist portrait measures 30 x 25 inches and was bequeathed by Gladys Munson Wurzburg to the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. Chase would go on to become an influential teacher whose students included Georgia O'Keeffe, Edward Hopper, Marsden Hartley, and Charles Sheeler. He founded the first summer school of landscape painting at Shinnecock, Long Island.