Still Life with Bloaters 1886

Editor: Here we have Van Gogh's "Still Life with Bloaters," painted in 1886, using oil paint. The brushstrokes are quite visible, giving a tangible texture to the fish. What can you tell us about this work? Curator: This still life, with its humble subject matter and bold brushwork, speaks volumes about Van Gogh’s material conditions and artistic choices at this point in his career. Rather than focusing on traditional high-art subjects, he chose something readily available and inexpensive – bloaters, a type of smoked herring, food for the working class. Editor: So, the very choice of subject is deliberate? Curator: Absolutely. Consider the materiality of the painting itself. Oil paint, readily available but still a manufactured good, becomes a vehicle to explore not just aesthetics, but also social realities. Van Gogh wasn’t depicting opulence; he was engaging with the everyday through a material lens. We can also look at how the painting was made; his distinctive brushstrokes and layering show labor-intensive techniques. It questions notions of value creation. Was this just practice? Or did he intend this painting as a critique of the food chain itself? Editor: I've never considered it that way. The texture does make it so much more than just seeing food on a canvas, you’re faced with materiality and social reality. Curator: Exactly. Art becomes a form of social commentary when we acknowledge materials, manufacturing, and context. The bloaters become symbolic of a much wider network of production and consumption. It offers another facet in understanding Van Gogh and his time. Editor: That's really fascinating. I’ll definitely look at still lifes differently from now on. Thank you. Curator: My pleasure! Seeing art through a materialist lens offers endless layers of meaning and inquiry.