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During the early seventies, Chase was active in new productions in Opera yearly, and was traveling extensively between Europe and San Francisco. His interest in collage began to influence his use of paper in his painting, and by the middle seventies, the work had become abstract and more decorative. More constraints from film and theater were drawing him away from studio work, and his growing disatisfaction with his painting meant long stretches of time between shows.







LANDSCAPE 1974 48" x 60" Destroyed








CORNER SLANT 1974 Destroyed








GOLD BAND 1974 48" x72" Destroyed








RIVER 1975 Destroyed








Ronald Chase in his studio 1979



During this time he moved from the Embarcadero to a new five story studio in the Moore Plastic Bag building at 11th and Folsom. With three friends, he occupied five stories of a spectacular studio, but his painting and scultpture made little progress as his energies were demanded elsewhere.







1477 Folsom: shot of studio office








SLANT 1975 48" x 60" Destroyed








FOLD 1975 48" x 60" Destroyed








CREVICE 1973 Destroyed








AFTER CHEKOV 1975 48" x 60" Collection: Robert Walker, Sacramento, CA



In 1977, Chase became extremely unhappy with the direction his painting was taking. When asked in a 1985 interview what had happened, his reply was, "I simply hated everything I was doing. I loathed it. If I didn't care about my own work, why should anyone else care? I spent weeks destroying work. I was fed up, and decided it was better to call it quits."







SQUARE 1975 36"x48" Private Collection Seattle, Washington








SIDESWIPE 36" x 48" Private Collection, San Francisco








FIVE EASY PIECES 1975 Collage Collection of the Artist








Toy 1972 moveable parts with horses and flower








BLACK CORNER Collage on paper 36"x 48" Destroyed








1477 Folsom: studio shot of worktable, 1975. (More Plastic Bag Building)



Ronald stoped painting altogether with little hope he would find incentive to begin again.







christmas breakfast 1979 on roof of studio