Stilleven met vis, fles en visnet 1930

This is Lodewijk Schelfhout’s etching, "Still life with fish, bottle, and fishing net," currently hanging in the Rijksmuseum. Looking at the grays and blacks in this image, I get the sense of an artist deeply engaged with the daily life around him. The artist is taking the everyday and turning it into something kind of monumental. I imagine Schelfhout thinking hard about how to arrange these objects, moving them around on the table, thinking about light and shadow. I feel like the fish is the star here, all those tiny lines giving it texture and weight. There is a quiet intensity to how Schelfhout looks at the world. It reminds me of Giorgio Morandi who spent his life painting bottles. Artists like Schelfhout and Morandi show us that art isn't just about grand gestures, but also about seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. It's about slowing down and really looking.