Biography

Michael Chase was born in London the son of the painter and designer, William Chase and his wife Lillian. His artistic roots propelled him into the career of an art gallery administrator and later of an artist himself. His career began mainly after the Second World War, becoming a trainee in an interior decorating firm then swiftly going on to the Kensington Art Gallery and most notably to the Zwemmer Gallery in London from 1954 to1965. After moving to Colchester, Michael Chase become the director of The Minories Gallery (1966-75), afterwards devoting his full-time attention to his painting career. As an artist, Michael Chase was awarded with the Barcham Green Award at an open exhibition at Bankside Gallery in London in 1986. He then moved to Clare Hall in Cambridge in 1992 and exhibited at the John Russell Gallery in Ipswich in 1994 and later at the Chappel Galleries.

Statement

Michael Chase’s technical mentors were John Nash and Edward Bawden. Paul Nash, Arthur Boyd and Paul Klee were also constant sources of inspiration. Michael Chase was not as much concerned with actual places as with ‘the visual ingredients they portray’. This philosophy is clearly suggested in After the Storm, Navarra where the landscape expresses the feelings of the immediate past storms. It describes the body’s reaction to the unpleasant excitement of nature’s power and the static calm which follows. Navarra is a region of northern Spain dominated by the Pyrenees mountain range.

Bibliography

• G. MEIßNER, Saur Allgemeines Kunstler-Lexion: Band 18, K.G. Saur Verlag GumbH & Co, Munich, Germany, 1998.
• D.BUCKMAN, Dictionary of Artists in Britain since 1945, Art Dictionaries, Bristol, GB, 1998.
• CHAPPEL GALLERIES, A Focus on the Chase Family, Highlights Past and Present, Exhibition catalogue, 14th October – 4th November 2000

Cassandra Cunningham