Friendly Advice (Primary Title)
William Merritt Chase, American, 1849 - 1916 (Artist)
A masterful orchestration of pattern, color, and form rendered with a light hand, this elegant room channels Edith Wharton’s famed interior design guide, Decoration of Houses (1897)—a bible for genteel taste during the Gilded Age. Attired in costumes that meld into the setting, the two women stand as testimony to female harmony with domestic space. Friendly Advice reflects a synthesis of William Merritt Chase’s talents as well as his rejection of more avant-garde currents; the painting coincided with the New York opening of the momentous International Exhibition of Modern Art (Armory Show). In a letter to fellow student Guy Pène du Bois, Edward Hopper recalled their former teacher strolling through the show and “reviling everything.”
"Panama Pacific International Exposition," Palace of the Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA (1915) no. 3754.
"7th Annual Exhibition of Works by Indiana Artists," John Herron Art Institute, Indianapolis, IN (March-April 1914) no. 43.
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