William Merritt Chase’s Impressionist influences are easy to recognize in this painting.  Chase, who spent six years as a student in Munich, had a successful career as both a working artist and as a teacher that included instructing summer courses in Europe.  During his final summer abroad in 1913, Chase painted Venetian Balcony.  One of his students at this time was St. Joseph native Estelle Manon, who urged the St. Joseph Art League to purchase the work.  This acquisition became the first piece in the collection that would become the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art.