Two pale-skinned women sit facing each other on a long sofa centered on the wall across from us in a room warmly lit from the right in this horizontal painting. The scene is loosely painted so some details are indistinct. The woman on our left wears a white, full-length dress belted at the waist and trimmed with a ruffled hem. The puffy sleeves narrow below the elbow and are tucked into long, fawn-brown gloves. She wears a brimmed hat topped with dabs of white and lapis-blue paint, presumably flowers, with a sheer veil covering her face and chin. Glints of gold at her wrists might be bracelets. Her lower body faces us but her head and torso turn to her left, our right, to face her companion. She leans forward, with her left hand slightly extended, and she rests her fingertips on the cushion between them. Her other hand, closest to us, holds the curving handle of a closed, shell-pink parasol trimmed with white. To our right, the second woman sits with her knees angled to our left as she turns her head in profile, looking at her companion. She wears a floor-length, butter-yellow dress with white, vertical stripes. The dress has a high black collar, and a black ribbon wraps around her waist and falls down the front of the dress. Her sleeves billow at the shoulder and narrow below the elbow. Her dark brown hair is gathered at the top of her head. She holds a flat object in the same butter yellow in her lap that may be a matching hat. The sofa spans almost the entire width of the center of the painting. Its seat is draped in spruce-green fabric, and emerald-green, mauve, rose-pink, black, and gold throw pillows are scattered along its length. The lower half of the wall behind the women is tawny brown while the upper half is divided into four sections. A coral-red and off-white wall hanging fills the wall to our left of the woman in white. A framed artwork and mustard-yellow fabric with daubs of white, ash gray, and black hang on it. Moving right, a column of three framed artworks hang on the wall between the women. Next is a large mirror with a gold frame that hangs behind the woman in yellow. At the far right is another column of three framed artworks. The room behind us is reflected in the large mirror, showing an amber-colored wall with large windows and more framed artworks. Steps leading up to another sunlit room are also visible. A wicker chair with a pink and white pillow sits in the lower right, facing the women at an angle. The floor in front of them fills the lower third of the composition and is covered with a vanilla-yellow carpet streaked with areas of smoke gray and brick red. Two small throw pillows with tassels lie at the feet of the woman in white. The tip of the parasol points to a small sage-green pillow with tomato-red tassels lying on the floor between the women. To our left of the woman in white is a cream-white pillow with marigold-orange tassels. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower left, “Wm. M. Chase. Copyright 1895.”

A Friendly Call

William Merritt Chase

Two pale-skinned women sit facing each other on a long sofa centered on the wall across from us in a room warmly lit from the right in this horizontal painting. The scene is loosely painted so some details are indistinct. The woman on our left wears a white, full-length dress belted at the waist and trimmed with a ruffled hem. The puffy sleeves narrow below the elbow and are tucked into long, fawn-brown gloves. She wears a brimmed hat topped with dabs of white and lapis-blue paint, presumably flowers, with a sheer veil covering her face and chin. Glints of gold at her wrists might be bracelets. Her lower body faces us but her head and torso turn to her left, our right, to face her companion. She leans forward, with her left hand slightly extended, and she rests her fingertips on the cushion between them. Her other hand, closest to us, holds the curving handle of a closed, shell-pink parasol trimmed with white. To our right, the second woman sits with her knees angled to our left as she turns her head in profile, looking at her companion. She wears a floor-length, butter-yellow dress with white, vertical stripes. The dress has a high black collar, and a black ribbon wraps around her waist and falls down the front of the dress. Her sleeves billow at the shoulder and narrow below the elbow. Her dark brown hair is gathered at the top of her head. She holds a flat object in the same butter yellow in her lap that may be a matching hat. The sofa spans almost the entire width of the center of the painting. Its seat is draped in spruce-green fabric, and emerald-green, mauve, rose-pink, black, and gold throw pillows are scattered along its length. The lower half of the wall behind the women is tawny brown while the upper half is divided into four sections. A coral-red and off-white wall hanging fills the wall to our left of the woman in white. A framed artwork and mustard-yellow fabric with daubs of white, ash gray, and black hang on it. Moving right, a column of three framed artworks hang on the wall between the women. Next is a large mirror with a gold frame that hangs behind the woman in yellow. At the far right is another column of three framed artworks. The room behind us is reflected in the large mirror, showing an amber-colored wall with large windows and more framed artworks. Steps leading up to another sunlit room are also visible. A wicker chair with a pink and white pillow sits in the lower right, facing the women at an angle. The floor in front of them fills the lower third of the composition and is covered with a vanilla-yellow carpet streaked with areas of smoke gray and brick red. Two small throw pillows with tassels lie at the feet of the woman in white. The tip of the parasol points to a small sage-green pillow with tomato-red tassels lying on the floor between the women. To our left of the woman in white is a cream-white pillow with marigold-orange tassels. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower left, “Wm. M. Chase. Copyright 1895.”

Colors in this work

Details
Artist
William Merritt Chase
Date
1895
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 76.5 x 122.5 cm (30 1/8 x 48 1/4 in.) framed: 100 x 145.7 x 7.6 cm (39 3/8 x 57 3/8 x 3 in.)
Department
CAB
Holding institution
National Gallery of Art
Palette

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Image provider
national-gallery-of-art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Chester Dale Collection

Art Genome Taxonomy

9 tags

Subject Matter

  • Interiors Both · 99%

    Two women are shown inside a furnished room with a sofa, framed pictures, mirror, carpet, and chair; the catalog explicitly describes the interior setting.

  • Scenes of Everyday Life Both · 91%

    The title and the women’s seated, conversational orientation suggest an ordinary social visit rather than a historical or mythological event.

  • Related to Fashion Both · 91%

    The women’s dresses, hats, gloves, ribbons, bracelets, and parasol are prominent visual elements and are described in detail by the catalog.

  • Reflections Visual · 99%

    A large gold-framed mirror behind the right-hand woman visibly reflects windows, framed pictures, and additional interior space.

Visual Qualities

  • Dense Composition Visual · 86%

    The wall is filled with framed pictures and a mirror, while the sofa, pillows, figures, chair, and floor objects create a visually busy horizontal arrangement.

  • Pastel Colors Visual · 84%

    The palette prominently uses pale cream, white, yellow, pink, sage, and muted green tones, offset by darker browns and black accents.

Medium and Techniques

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 100%

    The National Gallery of Art identifies the medium as oil on canvas.

  • Large Brushstrokes/Loose Brushwork Visual · 95%

    Contours and furnishings are rendered with broad, broken strokes and softened edges, especially in the dresses, sofa, carpet, and reflected space.

Time Periods

  • 19th Century Art Metadata · 100%

    The work is dated 1895, placing it within nineteenth-century art.

Source & rights

William Merritt Chase. A Friendly Call. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.

High-resolution sources

Catalog record ↗ Image source ↗ Image license ↗ Image-use terms ↗ Catalog metadata terms ↗

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