Description
Pink blossoms spread across the upper part of William Merritt Chase’s Pink Azalea — Chinese Vase. A blue-and-white bulbous vase anchors them below, while a small bowl rests nearby on the tabletop. Painted in oil on wood, the still life balances the flowers’ irregular growth against the vessel’s contained shape. A dark background makes the pale blossoms and patterned ceramic particularly clear.
The museum proposes an uncertain date within 1880–90, but the visual relationships provide a secure starting point. The branches expand outward as the vase gathers them into a single arrangement, creating a rhythm between spreading and containment. Chase lets the contrasting surfaces remain distinct: petals, glazed decoration and the supporting tabletop each offer another kind of form. The painting makes their meeting absorbing, with delicacy and solidity depending on one another.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the William Merritt Chase collection.
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