Marilyn A. Moyle

Fish imagery in art 54: Corneille'sFish

Corneille (b. 1922 as Corneille G. Beverloo) is a Dutch painter known for his complex, colorful, yet often childlike paintings. He is perhaps best known for his association with the short-lived (1948-1951) group of artists and poets called COBRA, after the names of the capitols of the countries from which the artists came (Copenhagen, Brussels, Amsterdam). Like Karel Appel, another member of the COBRA group, Corneille often painted seemingly simple abstract scenes that attempt to capture ‘a fantastic world of fable, as playful as that of a child, rooted in the collective subconscious of man’ (Gribling, 1972, p. 7). It is doubtful that the fish in this painting has any special significance but it does reflect Corneille’s fascination with the natural world. It is perhaps as well an homage to Paul Klee, who painted many symbolic fish and whose work helped break the experimental ground occupied by painters like Corneille.

Fish imagery in art 80: Raisho's Cornetfish

Nakajima Raisho (1796-1871) was one of many artists who flourished during the Tokugawa Shogunate (1615-1868), supported in good part by prosperous urban merchants . The collapse of the shogunate marked the end of feudal society in Japan and a major surge towards Japans entry into the modem world. The extreme realism of this drawing (ink and color on paper) made in 1870, shows the influence of Western art, which became available in Japan in the 19th century (Mason 1993) . The fish is a cornetfish (aka-yagara), Fistularis commersoni, a species highly prized for food . It is depicted at approximately life size (ca. 85 cm SL). The purpose of the drawing, which is on a hanging scroll, was presumably entirely decorative . However, drawings of fish were also made as natural history illustrations during the Tokugawa (Edo) Period (Aramata 1989) .

Fish imagery in art 62: Chase'sfish and still life

William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) was a celebrated American realist painter and art teacher although he is much less appreciated today than his contemporaries Winslow Homer, James McNeil1 Whistler, and Thomas Eakins. He became known for his landscapes and portraits, but achieved the most attention for the luminous still lifes of fish he painted late in his career. The first of these was of a cod, Gadus morhua, which he claimed to have painted in under two hours, returning the fish to the English fishmonger still fresh enough to be sold (Pisano 1979). Chase then created a series of similar paintings, which were eagerly acquired by major art museums in the United States. These paintings, done mostly in browns and whites with bold brush strokes, demonstrate Chase’s extraordinary technical skills and his appreciation of the aesthetic traditions of still life painting.

Fish imagery in art 61: Troll'sDance of the fish charmers

This is the second work by contemporary artist Ray Troll in this series. Trollis an Alaskan artist, with an advanced degree in Fine Art from Washington State University. Like Sockeye Sunset (EBF, 1993), this work reflects Trolls ability to draw fish with considerable accuracy, his focus on Alaskan themes, and his fertile imagination. Dance of the Fish Charmers shows masked Northwest Coast Indians and three of the fish their culture depended upon: sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka, cabezon, Scorpaenichthys marmoratus, and redbanded rockfish, Sebastes babcocki. In this drawing, Troll shows these fish in both Western and Northwest Coast Indian art styles. The presence of the artist among the dancers is a comment on how much his own livelihood has come to depend upon fish!

Fish imagery in art 65: TlingitSculpin pipe

The art of the Indians of the Pacific northwest coast is some of the most complex art ever produced by a culture that lived by hunting and gathering. The art, often featuring animal motifs, was possible because abundant salmon and other marine resources allowed ‘a sedentary way of life emphasizing conspicuous consumption (Hamer & Elsasser 1965, p. 7)‘. This art ranged from elaborately carved and painted houses, totem poles, and canoes to small household items and decorative apparel. The artists primarily worked in wood but they were very adaptable and could use almost any workable material. After their first contacts with Europeans in the late 18th century, many new materials became available, which were often converted into trade items. This pipe was created in the early 19th century from a section of iron gun barrel and a piece of walnut. The walnut may have come from the gun stock because walnut is not native to the Pacific Northwest. The use of a sculpin (Cottidae) as subject for the carving is unusual; salmon or sharks were much more commonly used and had considerable significance as clan totems. The Tlingit were the northernmost people of the loose cultural group we label today Northwest Coast Indians. They occupied what is now the panhandle of Alaska and associated islands.

Fish imagery in art 71: Holland-Scholer'sThe Story Joan Told

The Story Joan Told was inspired by Karla Holland-Scholer’s teacher, Joan Brown, a professor of art at the University of California at Berkeley. In this small ceramic sculpture a women in a wet suit sits in a chair, holding a large fish on her lap. Such fish were a personal symbol for Brown, who was a competitive swimmer as well as an artist. She swam from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco and made several paintings based on this event. This sculpture honors Brown’s achievements and includes many of the symbols Brown liked to use in her own paintings -the fish, cat, and Alcatraz Island. Brown died in India in 1990, but her legacy to her students is still very much alive She encouraged her students to make art based on stories, dreams, myths, and folktales. Holland-Scholer is an artist and teacher who lives in Davis, California.

Fish imagery in art 57: Troll's Sockeye Sunset

Ray Troll is a contemporary artist who is most famous for his humorous paintings of fish, especially those that have been reproduced on T-shirts, with such titles as ‘Spawn Till You Die’ and ‘Fish Worship-Is It Wrong?’ His fish subjects are primarily those found in the waters of Alaska, where he has lived since 1983. His first efforts were mainly cartoon-like, but his fish became increasingly realistic as he became more familiar with them through working in a fish market and fishing. Sockeye Sunset demonstrates this realism as well as Troll’s skill as a fine artist. It also demonstrates the environmental messages that pervade his work: the ‘sunset’ could just as easily refer to the decline of wild salmon populations as to the sunset in one corner of the painting or the sunset colors of the fish.

Fish imagery in art 60: Grave's Sea, fish, and constellation

Morris Graves (b. 1910) spent most of his childhood and adult life in Seattle, Washington, and was a pioneer of the mystic tradition of Pacific Northwest art. This abstract and highly spiritual tradition is rooted in the fog-shrouded environments of the Northwest and the Orient. Sea, fish, and constellation is one of Graves most significant paintings. It was made in 1943 when Graves, like other artists all over the world, was experiencing the horrors of World War 11. As the natural environment around Seattle area became ravaged by war-related activities, Graves produced dark paintings of birds, snakes, fish, frogs, and symbolic vessels. A conscientious objector during the war, Graves was drafted and then imprisoned after trying to escape. Much of his work from this period reflects his despair at the destruction of both his natural and spiritual environment. When he painted Sea, fnh, and constellation, Graves was heavily influenced by both Japanese painting and Mark Tobeys abstract painting of a spiritual sea, Modal tide. Gravess equally abstract sea and symbolic fish represent a deep inner reality rather than an external reality. Such works link him to the New York Abstract Expressionist school and earned him an international following. He is considered one of the few truly spiritual artists of the twentieth century.

Fish imagery in art 66: Tobey'sFish in moonlight

Mark Tobey (1890-1976) was an American artist with roots in the Pacific Northwest. Although he lived and studied in Europe, China, and Japan at various times, he is perhaps best known for works influenced by his stay in Seattle during World War II. ‘The city provided him a view of contemporary life seen in terms of light, energy, and dense, interlocking patterns of human activity’ (Johns 1990, p. 14). While his later paintings became increasingly abstract, Fish in moonlight (1934) is fairly typical of his more representational earlier work. This painting could easily have been inspired by the dead salmon that line the edges of regional streams during the spawning season.

Fish imagery in art 68: Brown'sEve with Fish and Snake

Joan Brown (1938–1990) was a professor of art at the University of California at Berkeley. A student of San Francisco Bay area artists Elmer Bischoff and David Park, at age 22 she was the youngest artist in the prestigious Whitney Annual (New York) of 1960. Eve with Fish and Snake is from a series created in 1970 called Paradise Series # 1. Brown’s use of bright color and symbolic figurative imagery documents important moments in her life. In her paintings she celebrated birthdays and her passion for animals. Fish appear to be a personal symbol, reflecting in part her love of swimming and her attempts to swim from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco (she was successful in 1975). Her paintings may appear to be ‘naive’ to some viewers, but Brown was completely aware of what she was doing. During the 1980s Brown devoted much of her energy to public sculptures. She died tragically in 1990 while installing a colorful tiled obelisk at the Eternal Heritage Museum in Prasanthinalayam, India (Adams 1992).