“Bath Beach – a Sketch,” an oil on canvas painting by William Merritt Chase, created in 1888, typifies the Impressionism movement within the genre painting category. The artwork captures a tranquil seaside scene, featuring a pathway that runs alongside a calm body of water.
In the foreground, an antique cannon on a wooden base adds a historic element to the composition, while the pathway leads into the distance, shaded by a row of trees on one side and bordered by a green lawn on the other. The central figures, presumably a woman dressed in dark clothing and a child, are seen walking along the path, enhancing the serene and everyday quality of the scene. The distant view of the landscape, with its gentle hills and reflective water, together with the soft, natural light filtering through the trees, exemplifies Chase’s mastery in rendering atmospheric effects, a hallmark of the Impressionist style. Overall, the artwork evokes a calm and nostalgic ambiance, characteristic of late 19th-century American Impressionism.
