"Whether it's catching fish, cooking, reading books about fish, telling stories about fish, fish is always a source of fascination. We can only observe with awe and admiration the inhabitants of this mysterious water world, and their myriad shapes, colors and behaviors. ”
By Christina E. Jackson
Translated by Feng Han
★ Renowned British art historians take you on a colourful tour of fish art
★ secluded deep sea, tranquil riverbanks, bustling fish markets, feasts on the table; The legacy of the cod wars, the rise and fall of ports, the ethics of fishing, the development of the salt industry...
★ Nearly 200 paintings from the collections of museums around the world, with vivid texts
★ Seeing through the rich meaning of fish in history, culture and humanity
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01
Still life painting
Socio-cultural connotations
In continental Europe in the 17th century, there was a heyday of still life painting. Many artists choose to paint a still life because it shows their ability to work with fruits and flowers, fur, leather, as well as fish, metal, glass and fabric, and there are often many explicit and implicit interpretations and meanings in such paintings.
Oshas the Elder Bert (circa 1580-1624), Still Life: Breakfast with Oysters and Dessert, oil on wood
In the 17th century, Herring was often seen in the works of Dutch and Flemish artists, indicating that it was a poor man's breakfast or a farmer's meal. Because herring is abundant, cheap, and can be caught all year round, it is fully recognized by the church and the state, and more importantly, it is a safe, healthy and delicious food.
Herring are economically important, and even wars have been fought over their habitat. Charlemagne established the fortified Port of Hamburg to protect the herring fishing fleet. The ports of Bremen, Rostock and Lübeck formed the Hanseatic League. In the 13th century, the Hanseatic League fought Denmark over the right to catch herring, and Copenhagen was razed to the ground in a fire of 1242.
In the 17th century, the expansion of the Dutch port along the coastline brought more herring harvests and contributed to the prosperity of the country. The Dutch are well aware of the importance of this fish for their own economic well-being, as they not only eat large quantities, but also export them. For this reason, Dutch artists painted these fish with respect and were fond of documenting in detail the important impact they had on their lives and countries.
Joseph de Bray, Ode to a Pickled Herring, 1656, oil on wood
02
Deep Sea Exploration & Fishing:
Fashion fun in fish paintings
From the fish paintings of different periods and regions, you can also glimpse the changes in people's fashion taste. For example, people explore the underwater world and use fishing as a fashion.
The desire to explore the underwater world is as old as humanity itself, and the abundance of species in the depths of the ocean, including fish, has fascinated human curiosity since ancient times: initially, divers went deep into the ocean floor to collect pearls and sponges; Then there is the exploration of mineral resources in the depths of the ocean. But before the 20th century, an artist could not have dived into the deep sea to see for himself, nor could he have stayed in the water long enough to record what he saw. The choice of fish theme depends on the local catch. The artist's creation depends on the time of year and where the fishermen work. Once the right objects are found, the difficulty for the artist is what kind of pose they pose to best show what they look like. The artist can only imagine the fish swimming in the sea, imitating the landscape by depicting some high and low areas, and using imaginary plants to add realism to the picture.
A mosaic from the 2nd century BC found in the House of the Agronomist in Pompeii, now preserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples
It was not until 3 January 1840 that Sir James Clark Ross obtained the first deep-sea depth measurements in the South Atlantic, and since then a variety of expeditions have uncovered major landforms including ridges, basins and trenches, as well as seamounts and isolated areas of extreme deep water. Equally exciting is the colourful array of fish living in the warm waters of the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and South Pacific. These newly discovered species, as if requiring artists to have the richest color palette imaginable, can be depicted.
Paul Andre Robert, The Scorpeon, the Scorpene, and the Sawfish, watercolor, from The Wonders of the Sea: Life in the Sea (1937)
Outside of the marine world, freshwater fish are also gradually beginning to arouse interest. After the 19th century, fishing as a sport was developed by the British and became a favorite pastime, and was enthusiastically accepted in the United States. So British and American artists began to turn their attention to rivers and lakes: first to depict anglers, then to their fishing process, and finally to the fish themselves. The first work of the 19th century to show river fishing was nothing more than a landscape painting with a small figure of a fisherman, just to add interest; Later, there are some movements in the picture, and the salmon in the painting rises, jumps, is forked and hit, which is very interesting.
Arthur Roland Knight, Making the Dogfish Spin Fast: Catch It, postcard
03
Text side solicitation quotation
Contains interesting knowledge about fish
In addition to introducing the rhetoric of artistic style, the book is often interspersed with some cold knowledge about fish, such as:
- Some species of fish change color after death. The longitudinal sheepfish are reddish-brown during the day, but at night, the stripes on the body become marbled. Before death, its color is at its most vivid. The Romans brought live specimens to tables and observed their ever-changing brilliant colors as they died.
- In medieval Venice, fishmongers' stalls were inspected daily by law, and any stale fish were removed and destroyed. Fish sellers are not allowed to sprinkle water on the fish to keep it cool or make it fresh. But they found a way to circumvent this particular legal requirement. The two fishmongers will quarrel, and the fight will then lead to a fight, one will be knocked to the ground by the other, and the bystander will carry a bucket and pour water on the fallen fishmonger, and will also spill water on the fish by the way. This is a ruse that has existed for at least 1,000 years, as revealed by the Greek writer Artenaeus in The Talker at the Table in 200 BC.
- Cod liver oil has long been known to be used to make candles, however it took a long time to discover that the oil had medicinal properties. In 1815, some Cossacks accidentally ate some wax oils and found them to be good for health. This oil is obtained by pressing fresh cod liver at a temperature of about 85 ° C, which is rich in vitamin A and vitamin D.
……
Jacques-Laurent Agas, A Fishmonger's Shop, 1840, oil on canvas
When you wander in the vast historical time and space and exquisite paintings in the book, you can harvest the aesthetic pleasure and feel the interest of knowledge.
Fish in Art and the History of Civilization is not only a book for art lovers, it will appeal to every curious reader and even add new fun to fishing enthusiasts.
The book includes nearly 200 paintings from the collection of world-famous museums, carefully arranged according to the logic of graphics and texts, bringing you a comfortable reading experience; Four-color printing, hot silver process, high-definition pictures show the delicate brushstrokes of the painting, with excellent visual effects.
History of Tree Civilization Hidden in Paintings
By Charles Watkins
Translated by Yu Xiaomo
★ The journey of enlightenment of human civilization, a history of tree civilization that is a metaphor for human history and future paths, a historical drama about nature, art and human desire
★ An unexpected collection of fine art,
Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh, Cézanne...
Hundreds of masterpieces by world-famous artists, precious
★ Behind the masterpiece lies a magical and fascinating story, which deeply embodies human love, power, loss, jealousy and sadness
This book examines the images of trees and forests in paintings of different eras and art genres from different angles, explaining the cultural implications behind these images and the meaning that painters have given to these images. From Daphne's transformation into a laurel tree, to Pompeii's garden; From oak trees across Europe as symbols of state and freedom, to the mysteries of nature inside forests. Through hundreds of years of lush greenery, the interplay between art and nature reflects and metaphorically represents the path of human life. Through the trees and forests painted by the artist, we will start a journey of enlightenment of human civilization.
"The Unbroken Feast"
By Gillian Riley
Translated by Xiang Yao
★ An art history written for "foodies", a "living" time and space travel
★ Well-known contemporary British food historians and art historians take you to appreciate the art of various eras, and restore human food culture from art
★More than 200 classic works of art history, with humorous and humorous texts, take you to appreciate the beauty of art and food
This is a history of food culture written for "foodies". Written by Gillian Riley, one of Britain's leading contemporary food historians and art historians, it takes you through the history of fine food and food from the Stone Age to the Renaissance. In human history, food has never been just for the stomach. Food is about taste, it's about health, it's about philosophy, it's about faith. Riley goes beyond the routine of simply telling the history of cooking, combining food and art to decipher the various foods and the university questions behind them.
The Plant That Changed Human History
The Plant That Changed Human History
[Portuguese] by José Eduardo Mendes Ferrand
Shizheng translation
★ The Commercial Press is one of the top ten best books of the month
★ Portugal's national treasure botanist travels across four continents to find the past and present of 58 plant species, with more than 120 illustrations from 24 internationally renowned institutions
★ A journey of botanical discovery, an epic of plants that changed human history
During the Age of Discovery from the 15th to the 17th century, different European countries played a pivotal role in the spread of many plants. Some of these plants were introduced to Europe or migrated between different tropical regions. The Portuguese can definitely be called pioneers in this field, and they have greatly changed the agricultural, dietary and economic structure in many parts of the world.
The author reads a large number of primary sources in Portuguese, collects and organizes fragmented information that has never been mentioned or rarely mentioned, and summarizes the origin, dissemination, geographical distribution and economic benefits of plants from the perspective of cultural studies.