''The Young Orphan'' (or ''At Her Ease'') is an oil-on-canvas painting executed in 1884 by the American artist
William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...
. It is in the collection of the
National Academy of Design
The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...
, New York City.
[ ]
The model was probably from the Protestant Half Orphanage in West 10th Street, New York City, adjacent to the Tenth Street Studio Building where the artist lived and worked. Chase changed the title of the work to the more politically correct ''At Her Ease'' when he sent it to the 1884 exhibition of
Les Vingt in Belgium, thus placing more emphasis on the painting and less on its social comment.
The painting is compositionally reminiscent of
Whistler's well known ''
Arrangement in Black and Gray, No 1'' (''
Whistler's Mother)''.
See also
*
List of works by William Merritt Chase
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young Orphan
1884 paintings
Paintings by William Merritt Chase