Lot 696: Follower of Pieter de Putter, The Hague 1600-1659-

Follower of Pieter de Putter, The Hague 1600-1659- Fishmonger in his work shed by the shore; oil on panel, 22x35cm, Note: Stylistically this painting is comparable to other studies by De Putter, the strange and exotic sea creatures glistening on the bench and hanging from the beams, the fishmonger pausing briefly to look in the direction of the painter and holding a large fish proudly by the gills before returning to his work, De Putter specialising mostly in still lives of fish, his palette with its silvers and whites gleaming from the fresh fish and unlike his contemporaries, (he) "did not depict fish of the types normally found at daily markets. Instead, he painted fish as game, not food - a difference highlighted by his depiction of nets and other equipment. His work has therefore been regarded as belonging to the same tradition as hunting still lives and other game pieces, with which they have often been hung as pendants"; C.H. Breedveld (De oorsprong van het visstilleven in de Nederlanden van de 17e eeuw, 1995, unpublished doctoral thesis), all apparently evident in this particular panel. (LP)

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