Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Daniel J. Terra Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1993
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1999
William Merritt Chase
(American, 1849–1916)
Portrait Sketch of a Woman with Mantilla
undated
Graphite on cream laid paper (a sheet removed from one of the artist's sketchbooks)
Image: 4 x 3 3/4 in. (10.2 x 9.5 cm)
Sheet: 7 x 4 3/8 in. (17.8 x 11.1 cm)
Sheet: 7 x 4 3/8 in. (17.8 x 11.1 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1999.31a
InterpretationPortrait Sketch of a Woman with Mantilla is a bust likeness of a woman in profile, turned to the left, with a sheer mantilla or veil over the dark hair gathered up behind her head. A flat dark background is rendered by an area of parallel strokes of graphite that frames her head. The woman’s profile is rather heavily worked in a manner uncharacteristic of William Merritt Chase, and in contrast to the technique he used for his Sketch of a Man, Whistling (TF 1999.31b) on the other side of this sheet, which once was part of a sketchbook. Both Portrait Sketch of a Woman with Mantilla and Sketch of a Man, Whistling may well date to Chase’s student days in Munich, Germany. Indeed, the woman’s dress, particularly her mantilla, suggests a European subject.
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Daniel J. Terra Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1993
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1999