Alson Skinner Clark was born in Chicago in 1876, and studied in New York under William Merritt Chase, some of whose easy authority he brought to this study. We don’t know to whom this immaculate house belonged, but the sheen on the floor suggests the presence of many servants—which is also borne out by the date, 1915. A few more months, and America will be in the war that began the process by which many such scenes of gleaming tranquillity were dispelled forever.