Still Life with Plaice

Location

Country: Switzerland
City: Berne
Place: British Embassy

Jack Smith’s 'Still Life with Plaice' is an eerie image of everyday objects assembled within a stark interior. The table, strongly lit by an ethereal white light, appears to be tipped towards the viewer, as if presenting the objects to us. The space of the kitchen is shallow and the broad wooden edge of the table acts as a barrier, coming too close to the edge of the canvas to allow us to project ourselves into the room. Even the partially opened cupboard is blocked by the table, creating a slight sense of suffocation. The objects on the table are not arranged in a fluid or understandable fashion. The string of onions is aligned too deliberately parallel to the edge of the table. Both the plaice and the onions occupy their own discrete space, enabling us to view them as separate objects in an almost hieroglyphic way. The items appear to float on the surface of the table, while the bright white empty areas become focal points within the painting and capture our attention as much as the objects themselves.

Jack Smith’s paintings of the mid 1950s are characterised by their unabashed depictions of post-war austerity. Domestic interiors, particularly kitchen and dining room scenes, feature prominently in his work of this period. 

Places

Subjects

still life, plaice, knife, plate, fish (as food), onion, domestic interior, cabinet, table (as Subject)

Materials & Techniques

hardboard, oil, oil painting

Artist

Jack Smith (1928 - 2011)

Title

Still Life with Plaice

Date

1955

Medium

Oil on hardboard

Dimensions

height: 152.70 cm, width: 122.20 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Mayor Gallery, February 1997

Inscription

br: Jack Smith / /55

Provenance

Private Collection, USA

GAC number

17252