(Dutch, 1831 - 1893)
The Goldfish Bowl
Oil on canvas, 8 1/2 x 6 1/4 inches
Signed at lower right: “Frans. Moormans”
The Chinese were probably the first to keep goldfish in garden pools and containers, and the French are known to have adopted the practice by the eighteenth century. By the nineteenth century, goldfish bowls were popular in middle-class interiors in Europe and the United States, and a subject for genre painters.
About the Artist
(Dutch, 1831 - 1893)
Born in Rotterdam, Frans Moormans studied at the Academy in Anvers and later taught at the Academy in Amsterdam. He exhibited widely in Europe and won a medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889. His genre paintings, examples of which are in museums in Montreal and Rouen, include multi-figural works and single figures in decorative interiors.
