With its dark tonalities set against a luminous central figure, Alice in White epitomizes the bold approach to color and form that distinguished William Merritt Chase as one of America’s leading nineteenth century portraitists. Dated circa 1886, Chase executed the present work just one year prior to his marriage to Alice Gerson. The pair would go on to have eight children together, with Alice and the children frequently modeling for Chase’s paintings and drawings.

In the late 1880s, Chase occupied himself with portraiture from his Tenth Street Studio in New York. A combination of commissioned subjects and familiar sitters posed for Chase during this immensely productive period of his career. Alice in White showcases the artist’s wife seated atop an ornate satin pillow, her gaze piercing and direct. Her porcelain skin is softly rendered by the artist here, and the delicacy of Alice’s white dress is offset against the dark, rich interior. Many of Chase’s finished oils and drawings alike from this period depict figures in chairs such as this, as he routinely studied his family and friends in seated positions (fig. 1). There is a strong resonance between the subject work of Alice, and later portraits in which Chase illustrated their daughter (also named Alice) in similar poses, garments, and hairstyles (fig. 2). The gentle elegance of Alice in White is characteristic of Chase’s oeuvre, which blends American subjects with Impressionist taste acquired during his many visits abroad. Alice in White is completely fresh to market, having descended through the artist’s family for more than a century.