Oliver Newberry Chaffee

Oliver Newberry Chaffee Jr. (1881 – 1944) is an American Modernist painter and printmaker. He is known for his connections to Provincetown, Massachusetts, where he help found the Provincetown Art Association.

Biography Oliver Newberry Chaffee Jr. was born on 23 January 1881, in Detroit, Michigan. He was from an affluent family, and his father left him a trust fund after he died, allowing Chaffee to pursue his art. In 1903, Chaffee moved to New York City to attended the New York School of Art (now known as Parsons School of Design), and studied under William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri. He also developed more color and light in his work as he gained experience and more travel.

From 1921 to 1923, Chaffee and his first wife Mary moved to France. The Frick Art Reference Library holds files of work by Chaffee. The Archives of American Art in Washington DC, holds three collections about Chaffee.

Solveiga Rush (1930–2020) was an art historian and Professor Emerita at the University of Cincinnati, she had researched and wrote about Chaffee. In 1991, Chaffee had a retrospective exhibition at Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Rush wrote the accompaniment book. Together, they had a daughter, Jane Merrick. The marriage ended in divorce around 1923. She had studied at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, also under Robert Henri.