Artwork
Still life with a haddock and a gurnard

Still life with a haddock and a gurnard is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Jan Vonck. It dates from 1650 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
As a member of the still life genre, the composition focuses on these marine subjects, presenting them as the primary visual elements of the piece.
The work is a still life painting by Jan Vonck, created in 1650, that depicts two specific fish: a haddock and a gurnard. As a member of the still life genre, the composition focuses on these marine subjects, presenting them as the primary visual elements of the piece. The painting is executed in oil on panel and measures 54.5 cm in height by 48 cm in width.
While the specific iconographic or symbolic meaning of these particular fish is not detailed in the available records, the work represents the 17th-century Dutch tradition of depicting foodstuffs and natural specimens with precise realism.
Technique & Style
Jan Vonck's Still life with a haddock and a gurnard, dated 1650, is executed in oil paint on a panel support. The work measures 54.5 cm in height and 48 cm in width. As a still life, the painting focuses on the arrangement of fish, specifically a haddock and a gurnard, rendered through the medium's capacity for texture and detail typical of the genre. The physical object remains in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
History & Provenance
The painting titled Still life with a haddock and a gurnard was created by Jan Vonck in 1650 as an oil on panel work. It entered the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and is also held by the Museum Gouda in the Netherlands. The artwork was catalogued in the Rijksmuseum's collection with the accession year recorded as 1650, and its physical dimensions are 54.5 cm in height and 48 cm in width. This provenance reflects continuous ownership by these institutions since its creation.
Overview
Jan Vonck’s oil painting Still life with a haddock and a gurnard, executed around 1650, presents a modest tableau of two dead fish placed on a weathered wooden board. The composition is anchored by a dark, almost black background that isolates the subjects, allowing their forms and textures to dominate the viewer’s eye.
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