Francisco de Goya (1746–1828)
1808–12
Oil paint on canvas
45 x 62 cm
Acquired by Oskar Reinhart in 1937
This work belongs to a group of twelve still lifes painted by Francisco de Goya during the tumultuous Peninsular War (1807–14). The conflict was fought by Goya’s native Spain, Portugal and Great Britain against the occupying French forces of Napoleon. Still life must have seemed a neutral subject matter at a time of censorship and political upheaval. However, the raw realism of these salmon steaks, isolated from any context, their flesh rendered in blood red, suggests the brutality of war.
Oskar Reinhart considered Goya to be the first modern artist and recognised his formative influence on later painters, in particular Édouard Manet and Pablo Picasso.