Still Life with Fish I
Staghorn sumach - Rhus typhina
231x117cm - edition of 4 plus artist’s proof
116x59m - edition of 5
Fish in Dutch still life are fairly common, although the Clara Peeters opposite is untypical in its simplicity and as such is the starting point for mine. Fish in still lifes in some cases originally have a Christian connection (more because the Greek word for fish, ichtus, is an acrostic for the Trinity than because of the fishing apostles or the miracle with the fish and loaves). However, their presence is often a metaphorical joke on the limits of hyper-realism: however brilliantly the artist can depict the glistening scales he/she cannot reproduce the smell of the dead fish.
Still Life with Fish and a Lemon, Clara Peeters, fl. 1607-1621