Study of Fish, Skate and Cod 1842

David Cox painted this "Study of Fish, Skate and Cod" using oil paint, a medium that allows for rich color and texture, but also careful observation. The materiality of the oil paint is key here, because Cox is doing more than simply representing the fish. He’s also giving you a sense of their specific substance: the cool, wet glimmer of their scales, and the soft, yielding flesh beneath. Consider the way the paint is applied – in thin, translucent layers that allow the light to bounce off the surface. The visible brushstrokes add to the sense of immediacy, as though the fish were just caught and laid out on the shore. Cox engages with the tradition of still-life painting, but he does so with a keen awareness of the natural world, and of the labor involved in bringing these creatures to our table. It underscores the connection between art, food, and the natural world. This attention to material and process is what makes the painting so compelling. It reminds us that art is not just about ideas, but also about the skillful manipulation of matter.