Marine

William Merritt Chase's Marine (1888) is one of his open-water coastal subjects — the Atlantic or bay water painted with the technical assurance of a painter who had spent years studying American coastal environments. Chase's marine paintings occupy a distinct category from his harbor and dock subjects: open water under varying atmospheric conditions, the challenge of rendering the sea's movement, color, and expanse without the compositional anchoring provided by land features. These pure marine paintings are among his most technically demanding.

Chase renders the open marine subject with the confident varied brushwork that was his signature. The sea's specific visual character — its surface texture, color, and movement under the prevailing atmospheric conditions — is captured through careful observation and decisive mark-making. His palette for marine subjects varies with conditions: the blue-grey of calm overcast water, the deeper blue of settled summer sea, the white of wind-broken surface. The sky, which dominates any marine composition, is handled with particular care for its tonal variety.