Still Life with Cat and Fish (Le Larron en bonne fortune), 1728. Jean Siméon Chardin. Oil on canvas. Purchase: acquired through the generosity of an anonymous donor.
The main character of this painting by Chardin, a cat, crouches in arrested movement, distracted perhaps by something more appetizing than a fish; a mouse on the larder floor? The cat's pose creates a sense of instability reinforced by the stone ledge that slopes away to the left and by the precarious positioning of the green pottery lid, which, if it were to fall, would land at our feet. An interest in the raw materials of cooking combined with the latent energy Chardin sets up in this painting connect it to the influence of Flemish Baroque still life.
