Lady in Black

William Merritt Chase

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Marietta Benedict Cotton (1868–1947) studied with Chase and became a successful society portraitist in New York and London. Chase later recalled: “One morning, a young lady came into my Tenth Street studio. . . . She came as a pupil but the moment she appeared before me I saw her only as a splendid model. . . . Such a model is a treasurefind. It is the personality that inspires, and which you depict on canvas.” An unabashed eclectic, Chase shared James McNeill Whistler’s predilection for monochromatic portraits and quoted the table at the left from John Singer Sargent’s "Madame X" (Madame Pierre Gautreau) of 1883–84 (16.53), also in the Museum's collection.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art