The artwork “Still Life with Three Trout from the Loue River” was painted by the artist Gustave Courbet in 1873. This oil on canvas work belongs to the Realism art movement and represents the still life genre. The painting is part of the collection housed at the Kunstmuseum Bern located in Bern, Switzerland. It captures a moment of natural beauty and simplicity with great attention to detail, a characteristic feature of Courbet’s work and the Realist movement to which he contributed significantly.
In the painting, three trout are depicted, suspended as if freshly caught from the Loue River. They hang by their mouths, attached to a simple line, set against a shadowy, somewhat obscure background that suggests a natural riverside environment. One fish’s body curves with a sense of weight and gravity, conveying the mass and texture of its wet, scaly skin. The ambient light highlights the sheen of the trout’s skin, attracting the viewer’s eye to the details of each fish. Courbet’s masterful use of color and brushwork emphasizes the naturalistic representation of the subjects, bringing a sense of immediacy and authenticity that is typical of the Realism movement, which aimed to depict subjects truthfully, without idealization.
