In A Leading Spirit in American Art, Ronald G. Pisano chronicles William Merritt Chase’s contribution to the development of an American statement. The result of more than ten years of research by the author—who is engaged in compiling the catalogue raisonné of Chase’s work—this book offers many new insights into one of America’s most gifted artists and a vital, fascinating period in the history of the nation’s art. Illustrated with a stunning array of paintings, pastels, drawings, watercolors, and monotypes—and supplemented with photographs from the William Merritt Chase Archives and paintings by Chase’s contemporaries—the book is the most thorough study of the artist to date and the first to be illustrated with the full range of his art. Several previously unpublished examples are included, as are many that have not been published or exhibited widely since the artist’s death. A Leading Spirit in American Art: William Merritt Chase, 1849 - 1916 is a benchmark in the study of American art and will remain the definitive work on the artist for years to come.

Hardcover, 204 pages, 69 color illustrations, 66 duotone illustrations

11.5 x 11.5 inches

Publisher: Henry Art Gallery, 1983

Designer: Douglas Wadden

ISBN: 9780935558142