# Fish (Still Life)

**Édouard Manet** (French, 1832–1883)  
1864  
Oil on canvas  
73.5 × 92.4 cm (28 15/16 × 36 3/8 in.); Framed: 108.6 × 127 × 12.7 cm (42 3/4 × 50 × 5 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1942.311. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/44892).

## About this work

This painting, like many of Manet’s still lifes, recalls 17th-century Dutch models. The directness of execution, bold brushwork, and immediacy of vision, however, suggest why the public found Manet’s work so unorthodox and confrontational. While this painting depicts “dead nature” ( nature morte is French for still life), there is nothing still about the work: the produce seems fresh and the handling of the paint vigorous.

_Text from the Art Institute of Chicago._

Édouard Manet painted this in 1864, aged 32. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

Still-life painting, fish, open oysters, eel, lemon on tablecloth.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Édouard Manet](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/edouard-manet)

French, 1832–1883; born in Paris; died in Paris

Manet came from a prosperous Parisian family, trained under Thomas Couture and studied the old masters, Velázquez above all. In the 1860s he provoked critics with Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe and Olympia, modern subjects painted in flat, frank colour with little modelling. Though he never showed with the Impressionists, younger painters looked to him as a leader, and in his last years he painted Parisian café life and A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: France
- The artist was 32
- Real size: about 29 × 36 in (73 × 92 cm). The 24 × 36 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Subjects: still life, tablecloth, table, pot, knife, kitchenware, death, food
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/150.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/150/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/fish-still-life-aic-44892).