Still Life with Fish and Shrimp

Painted in 1864 and now at the Norton Simon Museum, Still Life with Fish and Shrimp belongs to Manet's early maturity when he was absorbing lessons from Dutch and Spanish still-life painting — particularly Velázquez and Chardin — while developing his distinctive direct, unmediated approach to painting. The work predates his most controversial canvases and reflects his mastery of the traditional still-life genre before he applied that mastery to shocking subjects. Manet was one of the pivotal figures linking Realism and Impressionism, and his still lifes demonstrate the fluency with paint handling that made his more radical canvases possible.

Manet's handling is direct and confident — the fish are rendered with a few deft strokes that convey their silvery-blue iridescence without overworking. Highlights are placed with precision, building a convincing description of wet, scaled surfaces in minimal passes. The shrimp are treated with warm orange-pink against the cool silver of the fish. The dark background — a Chardinesque convention — throws the objects forward.