Artwork
A Fishwife
A Fishwife is an oil painting by the Realist artist Carl Bloch. It dates from 1875 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work offers a sympathetic portrayal of a female fish seller at work, presenting the trade not as picturesque backdrop but as the subject itself.
A Fishwife by Carl Bloch is a genre scene depicting a woman engaged in the fish trade. According to the depicted elements catalogued for the work, the central figure is a woman wearing a bonnet, accompanied by the tools and produce of her occupation: fish, a knife, a weighing scale, a basket, and a fishing net. The combination of these attributes situates the painting firmly within the tradition of everyday occupational genre painting, in which the labor and commerce of working-class figures is rendered with documentary attention.
The work offers a sympathetic portrayal of a female fish seller at work, presenting the trade not as picturesque backdrop but as the subject itself. The inclusion of the scale, knife, and freshly caught fish identifies the sitter's profession directly, while the bonnet and basket ground her in a specific social milieu. Together, these elements transform a simple commercial transaction into a study of working women's livelihoods in 19th-century Denmark.
Technique & Style
Carl Bloch's A Fishwife, executed in 1875, is an oil painting on a panel support. The work measures 36 centimeters in height and 24.5 centimeters in width, classifying it as a small-scale genre scene. Stylistically, the painting depicts a woman engaged in trade, surrounded by specific attributes including fish, a knife, a weighing scale, a bonnet, a basket, and a fishing net.
These elements are rendered in oil paint, a medium that allows for the detailed representation of the figures and objects central to the narrative of the fish market.
History & Provenance
Carl Bloch created the oil painting A Fishwife in 1875. Executed on a panel measuring 36 by 24.5 cm, the work depicts a woman engaged in the fish trade, surrounded by items such as a basket, fishing net, knife and weighing scale. It is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst in Denmark.
No details of an original commission or intermediate ownership prior to museum acquisition are recorded, and neither source documents an accession number or exhibition history for the work.
Overview
A Fishwife is an oil painting created by Carl Bloch in 1875. This genre scene depicts a woman engaged in the trade of selling fish, characterized by her attire and the tools of her profession. The artwork is part of the collection at the Statens Museum for Kunst.
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