R5 Datebook

Fancy Feud

Before Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, before the Beatles and the Stones, and even before the Yankees and the Red Sox, a different celebrity rivalry played itself out in American culture. The two feuding participants, painters William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri, were among the most admired American painters and educators of their time. The pair’s mutual respect for each other quickly soured, however, as they became embroiled in a long-lasting argument over the future of American art. This month, an exhibition at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut, explores what it calls the “painterly controversy,” highlighting both the obvious differences and unexpected similarities in the rivals’ work. The exhibition will be on display through April 29.