Lying Fish

As a theme for paintings, the still life has traditionally been used to bring to our attention the delicacy of the small transitory things of life, like food or flowers. They have also been tests of the artist's skill of representation. Here, instead of food on a table or flowers in a vase, the artist chooses to paint a fish on a towel dispenser. Still transitory, still represented carefully but more compelling because of the strangeness of the scene.