Born in Nineveh (formerly Williamsburg), Indiana, William Merritt Chase loved art from childhood. He was born into the family of a local merchant. In 1861, his father moved the family to Indianapolis and started a family business where he employed his son (Chase) as a salesman. Chase studied art under self-taught, local artists Jacob Cox and Barton S. Hays. He had a brief stint in the Navy after which his teachers urged him to travel to New York for further artistic training. In 1869, Chase arrived in New York, met Oriel Eaton Joseph and studied with him for a short time. After that he joined the National Academy of Design where he enrolled under Wilmarth Lemuel, a student of Leon Jean Gerome, the famous French artist.
In 1870, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri. This was because he had financial problems. He became very active in the St. Louis art community where he was working and raising his family, and managed to win prizes for his paintings at local exhibitions. The artist also exhibited his paintings at the National Academy. His talent elicited the interest of wealthy collectors in St. Louis who arranged for Chase to visit Europe for 2 years, in exchange for his help and his paintings in securing European art for their collections. Chase settled at the Academy of Fine Arts, an ancient center of art training that was attracting quite a number of Americans. Chase studied under Karl von Piloty and Alexander Von Wagner, and befriended Joseph Currier Frank, Frank Duveneck, and Walter Shirlaw, all American artists.
