Still Life with Fish

Chaim Soutine

ca. 1920 · Oil on canvas · Modern and Contemporary Art

Upon his arrival in Paris in 1913, Soutine worked alongside Modigliani and Chagall in a cluster of artists' studios called La Ruche, or "The Beehive." In this early still life, the open mouths of the herrings create the illusion that the fish are gasping for air, prefiguring the dramatic intensity of the artist's later work. At La Ruche, Soutine also experimented with expressionistic brushwork, as seen in the thick, forceful application of paint.

Artist

Chaim Soutine

Date

ca. 1920

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot (1876–1967), 1967