Baron Hugo von Habermann

Artist William Merritt Chase (American, 1849 - 1916)

Date1875

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 30 × 24 3/8 inches (76.2 × 61.91 cm)
Framed: 38 × 32 1/2 inches (96.52 × 82.55 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Albert R. Jones

Object number33-1599

SignedSigned and dated upper left: Will M Chase. / 1875.

On View

Not on view

Collections

American Art

Terms

DescriptionPortrait of a man wearing glasses and a Van Dyke beard, dressed in a dark suit; bust-length; dark background.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

This portrait depicts one of William Merritt Chase’s fellow students at the Royal Academy in Munich, Germany, a destination for many American artists in the 1870s. Chase portrayed von Habermann emerging from deep shadow with strong light focused on his face. Individual layers of paint and brushstrokes are clearly visible, suggesting the sitter’s vitality and personality. The dark palette and bravura brushwork, inspired by the earlier European painters, were among Chase’s trademarks. Von Habermann’s graceful speech and manners greatly impressed Chase, and the American artist frankly imitated his German friend in his own refined, cosmopolitan image and carefully trimmed Vandyke beard.

Published References

Katherine Metcalf Roof, The Life and Art of William Merritt Chase (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1917), 34, 42;

"Memorial Art Exhibition Is Contrasted," 1927, D7, clipping, NAMA curatorial files;

"Paintings Selected from Large Number Purchased from Artist's Widow," San Diego Union, 6 November 1927, 22 (as Portrait of Baron Hugo von Habermann);

Florence Wieben Lehre, "Artists and Their Work," Oakland (Calif.) Tribune, 11 December 1927, 8S (as Hugo von Habermann);

A Collection of Paintings by William Merritt Chase, 1849-1916, exh. cat. (San Diego: Fine Arts Society of San Diego, 1927), unpaginated;

Paintings by William Merritt Chase, N.A. LL.D. (St. Louis: Newhouse Galleries, 1927), unpaginated;

E. M. P., "Art Museum," Portland (Ore.) News, 8 February 1928, 6 (as Portrait of Baron Hugo von Habermann);

"Chase Exhibition Opens April 26," New-York American, 21 April 1928, clipping, NAMA curatorial files;

Lillian Semons, "Artists and Their Art: Chase Exhibition Feature of Season," Brooklyn Times, 22 April 1928, clipping, NAMA curatorial files;

Margaret Breuning, "Large Number of Black and White Exhibits," New York Evening Post, 28 April 1928, 15 (as Hugo von Habermann);

"Exhibitions in New York," Art News 26 (5 May 1928), 11 (as Portrait of Hugo von Habermann);

Royal Cortissoz, "The Field of Art: Review of the Season of 1927-1928," Scribner's Monthly 84 (July 1928), 112;

A Catalogue of an Exhibition of the Works of William Merritt Chase at the American Academy of Arts and Letters, exh. cat. (New York: American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1928), 22;

"In Gallery and Studio," Kansas City Star, 3 March 1934, 4 (as Hugo von Hagerman);

"Liberal with Art," Kansas City Times, 1 January 1936, 8;

NAMA 1940, 24;

NAMA 1941, 166;

Chase Centennial Exhibition Commemorating the Birth of William Merritt Chase November 1, 1849, exh. cat. (Indianapolis: John Herron Art Museum, 1949), unpaginated;

William Merritt Chase, 1849-1916, A Retrospective Exhibition, exh. cat. (Southampton, N.Y.: Parrish Art Museum, 1957), 14, 27 (as Baron von Habermann);

NAMA 1959, 255;

Triumph of Realism, exh. cat. (Brooklyn: Brooklyn Museum, 1967), 44, 75, 141;

Abraham David Milgrome, "The Art of William Merritt Chase," Ph.D. diss., University of Pittsburgh, 1969, v, 197, pl. 25;

"American Likenesses," Apollo 98 (September 1973), 232;

William J. Hennessey, The American Portrait: From the Death of Stuart to the Rise of Sargent, exh. cat. (Worcester, Mass.: Worcester Art Museum, 1973), 51, 63;

NAMA 1973, 251;

Americans Abroad: Painters of the Victorian Era, exh. cat. (San Jose, Calif.: San Jose Museum of Art, 1975), unpaginated;

Richard V. West, Munich and American Realism in the Nineteenth Century, exh. cat. (Sacramento, Calif.: E. B. Crocker Art Gallery, 1978), 28, 39, 49, 95;

William Merritt Chase: Portraits, exh. cat. (Akron, Ohio: Akron Art Museum, 1982), 9, 44n20, 46;

Ronald G. Pisano, A Leading Spirit in American Art: William Merritt Chase, 1849-1916, exh. cat. (Seattle: Henry Art Gallery, 1983), 29, 187n17;

Keith L. Bryant Jr., William Merritt Chase: A Genteel Bohemian (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1991), 32, 267;

NAMA 1991, 46-47 (as Hugo von Habermann);

Barbara Dayer Gallati, William Merritt Chase (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1995), 13, 18, 19;

Robert Gates Bardin, "Posing as a Fine Art: William Merritt Chase's Portrait Strategies," Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1997, iv, 28-30, 213, 256.

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.