Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions
Summer afternoon–summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. – Henry James
Every year my daughter and I make a pilgrimage back to Long Island to see family and visit some of my favorite childhood haunts. Long Island has changed a bit since I spent my summers at Camp Blue Bay, out on the east end, but the rambling and windswept sandy moors are still there, even if you have to look a little harder to find them.
Peconic Bay
Chase with his daughter Helen posed as a Spanish Infanta, ca. 1899
From About the Bayberry Bush, the Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY, 2001
Chase’s work captures my memory of hot sunny afternoons out on the bay or strolling through bayberry-festooned moors. You can feel the heat of the day with the breeze coming off the water and up over the sand with a sky painted “as if we could see through it,” as Chase advised his students. His Shinnecock landscapes are a perfect recollection of summer afternoons gone by.
Idle Hours, 1894
From the collection of the Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas
1 comment:
Hi Chris,
Chase is one of my favorites! Wonderful style he had. Great to meet you recently, and hope you like the video!
Best,
Bart Boehlert
http://bartboehlert.blogspot.com/
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