2-742-230 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Still Life with Herrings, c. 1735. This still life shows food and kitchen utensils for a simple meal of fish and vegetables. Chardin rendered the objects before a niche with singular technical expertise and compositional acuity. The dangling cherries echo the lovely arabesque in the Faience pitcher, and the concavity of the brass pot brilliantly plays against the convexity of the pepper box. A harmonious pyramidal composition is created by the pitcher at the left, the pepper box at the right, and straw tied at the top. The objects of Still Life with Herrings are awash in a golden glow, enlivened by tiny touches of white. This work, together with the museum’s Kitchen Utensils with Leeks, Fish, and Eggs , demonstrate how Chardin, once known as the "French Rembrandt," was a master of the genre.