At the Seaside

From 1891 to 1902, Chase served as the director of the Shinnecock Hills Summer School of Art in the town of Southampton, on Long Island, New York. Chase taught two days each week and spent the rest of his time painting and enjoying the company of his family. In this canvas, women and children take their ease on a beach, probably along Shinnecock Bay. A perfect site for genteel leisure on a perfect day, Chase’s rendering is capped by a broad expanse of sky that fills the upper half of the canvas. The scudding clouds artfully echo the bright white forms of the children’s dresses and the parasol.