Art UK has updated its cookies policy. By using this website you are agreeing to the use of cookies. To find out more read our updated Use of Cookies policy and our updated Privacy policy.

The Fish Market

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Buy a print or image licence

You can purchase this reproduction

If you have any products in your basket we recommend that you complete your purchase from Art UK before you leave our site to avoid losing your purchases.

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

An enormous, almost grotesque pile of fish is brilliantly illuminated amid the gloom of its surroundings. The heap seems to consist mainly of skate, but propped up against it is what may be a red mullet. Other highlighted objects break up the gloom, from the saucepan hanging up at the right to the brass interior of the basin propped up underneath, but the combination of pillars, low ceiling and dark brown tones makes for a claustrophobic scene. In the shadows to the left, a woman at the far end of the table is gutting a fish. Through openings at the back the white coiffed hats of further women can be glimpsed.

Philippe Rousseau was a great exponent of still-life painting, from flowers and food to kitchen utensils. He was influenced both by the French eighteenth-century artist Chardin and by earlier Flemish market scenes featuring prominent and detailed foreground still lifes.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

The Fish Market

Date

probably about 1834-50

Medium

Oil on wood

Measurements

H 23.8 x W 34.6 cm

Accession number

NG2480

Acquisition method

Presented by Henry L. Florence, 1909

Work type

Painting

Tags

See a tag that’s incorrect or offensive? Challenge it and notify Art UK.

Help improve Art UK. Tag artworks and verify existing tags by joining the Tagger community.

Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.
View venue