Still-Life with Fish

The style of Alexander Adriaenssen, who became a master in Antwerp in 1610, is related to the Haarlem style. He made a number of still-lifes of flowers, but he owes his reputation to his many still-lifes of fish. He depicted with great skill the moist waxiness of fish and oysters.

He seems to have arrived fairly quickly at a well-laid-out scheme to which he adhered for the rest of his life. He has a striking diagonal asymmetric composition, with motifs overlapping one another and arranged over several planes, with a generally sober tonality, even tending to monochrome. In the use of some motifs he seems to have been influenced by Frans Snyders.