# Good Friends

**William Merritt Chase** (American, 1849–1916)  
(c. 1909)  
Oil on wood  
22 1/4 x 31 in. (56.4 x 78.5 cm)

Courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, 66.880. [The museum's record](https://hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/artwork/?edanUrl=edanmdm:hmsg_66.880).

## About this work

William Merritt Chase painted this ((c. 1909)), aged 60. It is now at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC.

### How it was made

- **Oil on panel.** Oil paint on prepared wooden boards, usually oak in the north and poplar in Italy. The rigid, smooth surface suits fine detail and thin, glowing glazes.
- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [William Merritt Chase](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/william-merritt-chase)

American, 1849–1916; born in Williamsburg, Indiana; died in New York

Chase studied at the Royal Academy in Munich, then returned to New York in 1878 to teach at the Art Students League, setting up a lavish Tenth Street studio that became a showcase. His style moved from dark Munich realism to bright, quick outdoor painting, seen in his views of city parks and of Shinnecock on Long Island, where he ran a summer school from 1891. He was among the most influential American teachers of his time, and his students included Georgia O’Keeffe and Edward Hopper.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- The artist was 60
- Real size: about 22 × 31 in (56 × 79 cm).
- Century: 20th century
- Colour: olive
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1829.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1829/1920.jpg

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/good-friends-si-hmsg-66-880).