EDWARD HOPPER
Portrait of a Bearded Man with a Hat (William Merritt Chase).
Pencil on wove paper, circa 1900. 80x75 mm; 3¼x3 inches.Provenance: Estate of the artist, New York; Josephine N. Hopper, the artist's widow, New York; Reverend and Mrs. Arthayer R. Sanborn, Nyack; private collection, New York; Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., New York, with the label; private collection, New York; private collection, Pennsylvania.Exhibited: "Edward Hopper: The Early Years," September 6, 1982-August 31, 1983, various institutions, organized by the Brevard Art Center and Museum for the Southern Arts Federation Visual Arts Touring Program.Published: Edward Hopper: The Early Years, Melbourne, Florida, 1982, catalogue number 23b.Hopper (1882-1967) began studying at the New York School of Art and Design, the forerunner of Parsons The New School for Design, with the artists William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) and Robert Henri (1865-1929), shortly after taking a correspondence course in drawing in 1899. Chase, who bears a strong resemblance to the sitter in the current portrait, established his own art school, which became the New York School of Art and Design, in 1896, and was an instructor there until 1907. He was the elder statesman among the artists at the school, among the most talented and renowned 19th century American Impressionist artists, and an immensely influential teacher, fostering the early careers of artists such as George Bellows, Howard Chandler Christy, Charles Demuth, Marsden Hartley, John Marin, Georgia O'Keeffe, Joseph Stella and many others.