The Chinese Fishmonger
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Object Details
- Artist
- Theodore Wores, born San Francisco, CA 1859-died San Francisco, CA 1939
- Luce Center Label
- Theodore Wores came to know San Francisco's Chinatown as a child, when he walked home from his father's hat business through the bustling Asian community. The Chinese Fishmonger was the first painting he completed after returning to America from Europe, and the dark tones, strong highlights, and expressive brushstrokes reflect his Munich training. Wores struggled to get Chinese people to pose for his paintings until one of his young assistants, a Chinese student named Ah Gai, accompanied him to translate his requests. In this image, Wores captured the glistening, slimy scales of the fish as they slid from the basket onto the tabletop, so that we can imagine the exotic smells and hubbub of Chinatown's street markets.
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Drs. Ben and A. Jess Shenson
- 1881
- Object number
- 1972.153
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 34 3/4 x 46 1/8 in. (88.3 x 117.0 cm.)
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Topic
- Figure male
- Occupation\vendor\fishmonger
- Chinese
- Object\game\fish
- Architecture Interior\commercial\market
- Object\other\basket
- Record ID
- saam_1972.153
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7ca3cfe7d-bfc3-4535-817a-53a48bb7f255
Related Content
This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.
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