Vissen in een aquarium 1876 - 1924

Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof sketched these fish in an aquarium with graphite, a deceptively simple scene teeming with symbolic life. These are not merely fish, but symbols of fertility, transformation, and the subconscious depths. Consider how fish have appeared through time, from ancient Egyptian art, where they represented abundance and the life-giving Nile, to Christian iconography, where the fish became an emblem of Christ himself. Dijsselhof's fish recall these ancient roots, yet they are confined, observed, their fluidity reduced to lines on paper. The aquarium itself is a potent symbol. Is it a window into the mysteries of nature or a barrier that separates us from it? It evokes the human desire to contain and control the natural world, and the inevitable frustration of this desire. The fish swim on, oblivious, reminding us that the currents of life flow on, despite our attempts to chart and confine them. As the image reverberates in our memory, what new meaning will it evoke?