Wind-Swept Sands

Between 1891 and 1902, William Merritt Chase was a highly influential teacher at the Shinnecock Summer Art School in Long Island, New York, where he painted numerous landscapes of the surrounding area. In Wind-Swept Sands, Chase used rapid brushstrokes to depict the dunes and vegetation, thin washes for the sky, and an overall gray tone to indicate an overcast day. Chase’s teaching method was rooted in the French Impressionist practice of painting outdoors in order to take advantage of natural light and changing weather conditions.