Portrait of My Father - David Hester Chase by William Merritt Chase

This portrait of remarkable dramatic intensity constitutes a deep dive into the human soul and the respectability of old age. Through this work titled “Portrait of My Father - David Hester Chase”, the painter Chase William Merritt revisits the art of the psychological portrait with a rare expressionistic force. The canvas belongs to the American realist movement, favoring the truth of features and the moral dignity of the model over any form of idealization.

The face of an old man emerges powerfully from the dense shadows of a dark brown, abstract background. His bald and wrinkled head is surrounded by a voluminous white beard and mustache that beautifully catch the frontal light. He wears fine, round metallic spectacles resting on his aquiline nose, behind which his clear eyes gaze at the viewer with a solemn gravity. His mouth with pressed lips expresses a stoic firmness and a long life experience. He is dressed in a very dark black suit jacket that blends into the darkness, revealing only the starched white of his collar and a black tie. The raking light sculpts the relief of his forehead and the hairs of his beard.

The technical mastery of Chase William Merritt is brilliantly expressed in the violent contrast between the absolute shadow and the brightness of the beard. His pictorial touch, both thick and vibrant on the illuminated areas, lends a striking realism to the wrinkles and white hair. This meticulous work in oil painting attests to an extraordinary craftsmanship.