French Still Life Smoked Herring with Lemon and Glass

A moody and poetic still life, this mid-century oil painting captures the quiet ritual of a rustic meal: two smoked herring laid over a white-rimmed plate, a glinting knife, a half-filled glass, and a lemon resting nearby. The palette is muted and earthy, with soft umber and slate tones lending weight and shadow to the scene. Painted with loose, expressive strokes and signed in the lower left, the composition feels intimate—almost ghostly in its restraint—suggesting both nourishment and solitude. It carries the emotional weight of postwar European still life traditions, where even the most humble objects hold symbolic power.