Still life with fish 1930

Konstantin Alexeevich Korovin painted this still life, with what looks like oil on canvas, in a free, expressive manner. The brushwork is loose, and the colors are rich and earthy. It's a painting about looking and doing. Up close, you can almost smell the fish! Look at the way Korovin builds up the surface with layers of paint. It’s thick in some areas, like around the head of the bottom fish, where the mouth is open, teeth glinting, and thins out in others, allowing the texture of the canvas to peek through. I love how he uses color to define form, with quick, gestural strokes of white, blue, and green suggesting the scales and the light reflecting off the fish's skin. It’s a painterly dance between observation and imagination. Korovin reminds me a little of Manet, who was also interested in everyday subjects. But unlike Manet's cool, detached gaze, there's a warmth and a sense of immediacy in Korovin's work. It's as if he's inviting us to share in the simple pleasures of life.