Offered by NewAGG Raritet Antique Gallery
Here is the presentation of the pastel On the Beach, Long Island, created in 1902 by the American Impressionist painter Willard Leroy Metcalf.
This dynamic composition is virtually identical to an oil painting titled At the Seaside (circa 1892) by another prominent American Impressionist, William Merritt Chase.
The artwork depicts women and children relaxing under bright beach umbrellas on the Long Island coast.
The piece is executed in pastel on cardboard.
This creative dialogue between Metcalf and Chase is a prime example of how American Impressionists reinterpreted the ideas of their French colleagues and exchanged their own artistic breakthroughs.
Like Chase, Metcalf was a member of the famous society known as "The Ten American Painters." This pastel, created in 1902—ten years after Chase's oil painting—serves as a unique exploration of the possibilities offered by a different medium, namely pastels.
There are far more figures in this work than in Chase's original painting.
By employing this technique, Metcalf achieves a completely different, velvety texture. The sand appears drier and softer, while the clouds seem more ethereal.
Pastel crayons allowed the artist to capture the matte, diffused glow of a summer day with greater precision.
Such recurring subjects were a common phenomenon among Impressionists, helping artists compete in technical mastery.
The painting is signed and dated "W. L. METCALF. 1902" at the lower left.
