William Merritt Chase (American, 1849–1916). <em>Girl in a Japanese Costume</em>, ca. 1890. Oil on canvas, 24 5/8 x 15 11/16 in. (62.5 x 39.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Isabella S. Kurtz in memory of Charles M. Kurtz, 86.197.2 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 86.197.2_repro_PS9.jpg)

William Merritt Chase (American, 1849–1916). Girl in a Japanese Costume, ca. 1890. Oil on canvas, 24 5/8 x 15 11/16 in. (62.5 x 39.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Isabella S. Kurtz in memory of Charles M. Kurtz, 86.197.2 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 86.197.2_repro_PS9.jpg)

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Who is this?

Actually, although we know a lot about the artist William Merritt Chase, we do not know who this sitter is! Our records just record her as "young woman." She may have been one of Chase's studio models.

Brooklyn collected this portrait because it reflects the growing late nineteenth-century American interest in Asian arts and crafts. Japanese objects, increasingly accessible after the opening of trade with Japan in the 1860s, were particularly favored.

Why are these two paired up?

They're paired to point out the cross-cultural dialogue that's taking place. For example, notice the woman's wardrobe in William Merritt Chase's painting. She's wearing a Japanese kimono, showing the late 19th century American interest in Asian arts and culture after trade was reestablished between the Western world and Japan for the first time in more than two hundred years."

Why is this woman wearing a kimono?

As you may have already read on the label, this portrait by William Merritt Chase demonstrates "Japonisme," the European and American interest in Japanese art and culture in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Chase collected many props from the so-called "Orient" and displayed them in this studio and used them in his paintings. If you head up to the 5th floor you'll see more of his work!

Do we know much about the actual woman in the painting?

While we don't know her identity, scholars suggest that the level of details and rendering of the facial features of the sitter might indicate that she is a close friend or relative of the artist. In other, similar portraits of women, Chase didn't describe the sitters' faces with the same degree of detail that we see here.

Wow, thank you for this info! This app is great!

Tell me more.

The painting you photographed, called "Girl in a Japanese Costume" exemplifies the popularity of Japanese fashions in Europe and the U.S. in the late 19th century. In the arts, a newfound interest in Japanese printmaking and graphic style was referred to as “Japonisme.” Japan had only recently opened up its borders to trade, allowing this influx of Japanese culture into the West.

You moved her!

Yes! She is one of my favorite paintings in the collection - I'm glad you noticed her in the corner!

Chase collected kimonos for his models to wear. In the 1890s, a kimono would have appeared very informal and private, almost "undressed," to Western eyes.

Girl in a Japanese Costume

William Merritt Chase

American Art

On View: American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Several Seats

Japanese textiles, kimonos, swords, inros (small boxes that hung from the sash of kimonos), and ceramics were de rigueur in artistic American interiors of the 1890s, in keeping with Americans’ growing interest in Japanese art and aesthetics. With an abundance of Asian textiles and foreign costumes in his studio, William Merritt Chase was poised to respond to the growing popularity of Japanese costume subjects among his American and foreign peers. By the late 1880s, he began to portray selected models, often female members of his family, robed in beautifully patterned kimonos. Girl in a Japanese Costume is an example of such a work and, like the majority of his “kimono paintings,” depicts a young woman in a studio setting gazing directly at the artist, suggesting the closeness of this artist-model relationship.

The two kimonos on view nearby are unlike those that Chase would have had in his studio. Chase, like other followers of the Aesthetic Movement, would have owned silk kimonos, embroidered or hand painted in bright colors with bird and flower motifs. Japan produced many Westernized “kimonos” for customers like Chase who wanted the look but did not want to wear them “properly.” In contrast, the two kimonos on view were made for a Japanese, working-class user. They are relatively rough, in cotton and hemp, dyed once in indigo, and were made to be worn all day, every day.

ARTIST William Merritt Chase, American, 1849–1916

MEDIUM Oil on canvas

DATES ca. 1890

DIMENSIONS 24 5/8 x 15 11/16 in. (62.5 x 39.8 cm) Frame: 36 1/4 x 27 1/2 x 4 3/4 in. (92.1 x 69.9 x 12.1 cm) (show scale)

SIGNATURE Signed upper left: "Wm. M. Chase"

COLLECTIONS American Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 86.197.2

CREDIT LINE Gift of Isabella S. Kurtz in memory of Charles M. Kurtz

PROVENANCE Prior to 1909, provenance not yet documented; before 1909, acquired by Thomas B. Clarke of New York, NY; by 1910, acquired by Charles M. Kurtz of Buffalo, NY; February 25, 1910, sold at Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, "Oil Paintings, Water Colors, and Drawings of the Late Charles M. Kurtz," no. 143 (as "Girl in Japanese Costume"); between 1910 and 1986, provenance not yet documented; by 1986, acquired by Isabella Kurtz of Buffalo; December 18, 1986, gift of Isabella S. Kurtz to the Brooklyn Museum.

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Toward Joy: New Frameworks for American Art

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Several Seats

CAPTION William Merritt Chase (American, 1849–1916). Girl in a Japanese Costume, ca. 1890. Oil on canvas, 24 5/8 x 15 11/16 in. (62.5 x 39.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Isabella S. Kurtz in memory of Charles M. Kurtz, 86.197.2 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 86.197.2_repro_PS9.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 86.197.2_repro_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2013

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