On 21 February 1916 Chadwick noted that the painter Joseph Rodefer DeCamp (1858-1923), another one of the “Duveneck Boys,” was beginning a portrait of him: “My only fear is that he will make the picture too much like me.” Nonetheless, Chadwick considered this picture of the “best American portrait painter of his time” later “a masterpiece.” The painting, finished in 1917, shows the sixty-two-year-old composer as a dignified and serious person. Chadwick was of medium height, stout, with sandy-colored, later grey hair: In 1888, when applying for a passport at the age of thirty-three, he was described as 5 feet 4.5 inches tall, with blue eyes, brown hair, a fair complexion and an oval face.

At the time of the portrait he already suffered from health problems and had to use a cane, due to the accident in 1901. The composer's earnest expression in the painting does not reveal much of the sociable and jolly Chadwick, who throughout his life enjoyed having a good time with his family and friends. His good sense of humor, often impish, sometimes blunt, and his “to the point” demeanor, are documented by friends and colleagues, and, of course, through his own prolific writing and correspondence.

When Chadwick died in 1931, he was mourned as a highly respected person—a musician, teacher, director and manager, a public persona of musical life. He left a rich musical oeuvre: three symphonies, three large-scale symphony-like orchestral compositions, five overtures, four symphonic poems, five string quartets and a piano quintet, several choral works and dramatic compositions, among them an oratorio and an opera, more than a hundred songs, and some piano and organ compositions. Only a few of his works had been published: two of the three symphonies, the three symphonic works, three overtures, two symphonic poems, two of the quartets and the piano quintet, several songs and choral works, the oratorio, and some of the keyboard music. Therefore getting performances was difficult, because much of the music was generally inaccessible. Despite this, Chadwick was famous for works like Melpomene, the Symphonic Sketches, and Tam O'shanter, which were his most frequently performed and very popular compositions. Still during his lifetime, three of his songs, interpreted by the contralto Ernestine Schumann-Heink (“The Danza,” “Allah”) and the soprano Geraldine Farrar (“Love's Like a Summer Rose”) were recorded.