Artwork Page for Portrait of Dora Wheeler

Details / Information for Portrait of Dora Wheeler

Portrait of Dora Wheeler

1882–83

William Merritt Chase

(American, 1849–1916)
Culture
America
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 180.6 x 188.6 x 11 cm (71 1/8 x 74 1/4 x 4 5/16 in.); Unframed: 159.8 x 166.4 cm (62 15/16 x 65 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Boudinot Keith in memory of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1921.1239
Public Domain
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Location
208 American Gilded Age and Realism
Print
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Did You Know?

Chase and Wheeler worked together to raise money for constructing the Statue of Liberty's pedestal.

Description

Dora Wheeler became Chase's first student when he returned from overseas study in Munich and set up a teaching studio in New York. At the time, few American artists accepted women as private pupils. After her course of study, Wheeler joined her mother in launching a successful decorating firm, one of the first businesses in the country to be operated entirely by women. For the firm, she designed luxurious textiles, and the embroidered silk tapestry that fills the background in her portrait references her occupational interest. Chase's portrait was awarded a gold medal at an international exhibition of contemporary art in Munich in 1883, and later that year was also shown in Paris. At some later point, the painting was acquired by the sitter, who subsequently donated it to the museum.
An oil painting of a woman with light skin tone reclining on a carved wooden chair. Dressed in a floor length, fur-lined, deep blue gown, her body angles toward our left. She gazes past our right shoulder, chin resting on her left hand, propped up on the leather arm of the chair. On a small table behind her, a blue vase is filled with yellow flowers set against a muted yellow tapestry.

Portrait of Dora Wheeler

1882–83

William Merritt Chase

(American, 1849–1916)
America

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