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John Paul Chase
Portrait of Jesus and Sacred Heart by John Paul Chase (Dillinger Associate)
mid 20th Century

About the Item

Delicate and detailed portrait of Jesus by notable outlaw John Paul Chase (American, 1901-1973). Jesus is looking directly at the viewer with a piercing gaze, holding a glowing sacred heart in his left hand. The other hand is gesturing toward the viewer, palm up, and the stigmata can be seen on his palm. Jesus is wearing a red garment with a blue cloak, the traditional symbolic colors for humanity and the heavens. It appears that this piece was painted over a previous composition. Signed "John Paul Chase" in the lower right. Presented in a mahogany frame with an oval opening. Board size: 31"H x 24"W Oval opening is 28.75" x 22" at widest points John Paul Chase (December 26, 1901 – October 5, 1973) was an American bank robber and Depression-era outlaw, who also became an artist. John Paul Chase was born in San Francisco, California. He left grade school to work on a ranch and later became an assistant machinist in a railroad yard. In 1926, Chase was fired from the railroad and was hired as a chauffeur for a professional gambler in Reno, Nevada. He spent the next few years as a bootlegger in Sausalito, San Rafael and San Francisco but was not involved in major crime until his association with Baby Face Nelson in the early 1930s, possibly in March 1932. It is generally agreed among crime historians that Reno was the most likely place where the two first became partners, Nelson having connections in the local underworld and frequently hid out there while in Chicago and the general Midwest. On October 23, 1933, he and Nelson robbed their first bank together in Brainerd, Minnesota escaping with $32,000. Along the way, they picked up a number of other outlaws including Charles Fisher, Tommy Carroll and Homer Van Meter. By March 1934, Nelson had joined John Dillinger's gang although Chase did not participate in their first holdup that month in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It is unclear when Chase was brought into the gang, some accounts claiming he took part in a robbery in Mason City, Iowa. Chase and Nelson continued to rob banks with John Dillinger until Dillinger's death in July 1934. After the death of Nelson in November 1934, Chase fled back to California where he was arrested a month later, on December 27, 1934. Chase was sent to Alcatraz where he became one of the longest-serving inmates; (March 31, 1935 - September 21, 1954). On December 27, Chase was arrested by police at Mount Shasta, California while working at a state fish hatchery and extradited to Chicago. He was the first man to be charged under a recently passed law making it a federal crime to kill a federal agent. On March 24, 1935, Chase was tried and convicted for the murder of agent Sam Cowley and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was officially sent to Alcatraz on March 31, 1935. While incarcerated at Alcatraz prison corrections officer Frank Heaney would later recall in his autobiography, Inside the Walls of Alcatraz, that Father Clark, the prison's Catholic chaplain, first got him interested in painting. At one point during his stay, the prison had an art instructor who came over from San Francisco to teach the formal techniques of painting. He made a famous painting of a boat, the "J.P. Chase" leaving for San Francisco, with the viewpoint being from the island. He had paintings displayed in the prison and small art galleries, and often sold them. At Alcatraz he worked as a cobbler and was put under the personal guard of Frank Heaney, the youngest corrections officer at the prison during its operation. Chase remained in prison for another decade before he was finally released on parole, despite Hoover's protests, on October 31, 1966, after 32 years, and moved back to the Bay Area. Chase worked as a custodian at St. Joseph’s Seminary Los Altos, California until his death from cancer on October 5, 1973.

Creator:

John Paul Chase (1901 - 1973, American)

Creation Year:

mid 20th Century

Dimensions:

Height: 36.75 in (93.35 cm)Width: 33.75 in (85.73 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)

Medium:

Oil,Canvas,Wood Panel

Movement & Style:

American Realist

Period:

Mid-20th Century