Artwork
Still Life with Fish, Bread, and Kettle
Still Life with Fish, Bread, and Kettle is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Luis Egidio Meléndez. It dates from 1772 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting's documented provenance, from the Spanish aristocracy to later American collections, illustrates its journey from Madrid to Cleveland.
The work depicts a modest kitchen still life in which a freshly caught fish stands beside a copper kettle, a loaf of bread, citrus fruits, garlic and a metal oil pitcher, all arranged on a wooden table to suggest the preparation of a simple Spanish meal. The inclusion of everyday food items functions as a visual record of 18th-century domestic economy and culinary practice, while the careful balance of textures and colors underscores a celebration of humble abundance. The painting's documented provenance, from the Spanish aristocracy to later American collections, illustrates its journey from Madrid to Cleveland.
Technique & Style
The painting is executed in oil on canvas, a common support for Spanish still-life of the late 18th century. The work measures 34 cm by 48 cm and is applied with traditional brushwork in oil paint.
It depicts a freshly caught pink sea bream positioned against a large copper kettle, accompanied by an orange, a lemon, heads of garlic, a loaf of bread and a metal oil pitcher, all arranged on a wooden kitchen table to suggest the preparation of a popular dish. The arrangement is balanced by careful placement of light and shadow, and the composition is signed in the lower right corner.
History & Provenance
The painting Still Life with Fish, Bread, and Kettle was executed by Luis Meléndez in Spain in 1772 as an oil on canvas measuring 34 × 48 cm. Until the early twentieth century it remained in the Madrid collection of the Marquis de Casa Torres, Count of Saltes, after which it passed to the London dealer E. Speelman; it entered the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1983 and is catalogued under accession number 1983.97.
The work has been exhibited at several institutions: the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh (January–March 1985); the Meadows Museum in Dallas (March–May 1985); the National Academy of Design in New York (March–May 1985); the Albuquerque Museum (April–July 2005, for "El Alma de España (The Soul of Spain)"); the National Gallery of Art in Washington (May–August 2009); the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (September 2009–January 2010); and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (February–May 2010).
Legacy
Luis Egidio Meléndez's Still Life with Fish, Bread, and Kettle (1772) entered the Cleveland Museum of Art collection in 1983, becoming a touchstone for the study of Spanish still-life painting. Its journey from the Marquis de Casa Torres's Madrid collection to prominent U.S. venues, including the Meadows Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, has highlighted the work's role in scholarly appreciation of 18th-century Spanish art. The painting's frequent inclusion in exhibitions such as El Alma de España (2005) and its documented provenance illustrate its lasting impact on museum practice and the perception of Meléndez's oeuvre.
Overview
Still Life with Fish, Bread, and Kettle, painted by the Spanish artist Luis Egidio Meléndez in 1772, is an oil on canvas work now housed at The Cleveland Museum of Art. This painting exemplifies the artist's skill in the still-life genre, for which he is now highly regarded, though he received little acclaim during his lifetime. It showcases a meticulous arrangement of everyday objects.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Luis Egidio Meléndez (1716–1780) was a Spanish painter. Though he received little acclaim during his lifetime and died in poverty, Meléndez is recognized as one of the greatest Spanish still-life painters of the 18th…
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