Still Life with Blue Fish
1955
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
color woodcut on laid paper
Dimensions
image: 24.77 × 53.34 cm (9 3/4 × 21 in.) sheet: 40.32 × 61.91 cm (15 7/8 × 24 3/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Bob Stana and Tom Judy
Accession Number
2017.148.20
Art Historical Context
**Still Life with Blue Fish** (1955) by Werner Drewes captures the quiet elegance of everyday objects through a vibrant color woodcut, now housed in the National Gallery of Art's modern print collection (Department CG-W). A German-American artist (1899–1985) who studied at the Bauhaus and later became a key figure in American modernism, Drewes brought European precision to U.S. printmaking. This work, generously gifted by Bob Stana and Tom Judy, showcases his skill in balancing representational still life with subtle abstraction, featuring a striking blue fish amid harmonious forms on laid pap...
About the Artist
Werner Drewes
Werner Drewes (1899–1985), born in the village of Canig, Germany, to Lutheran pastor Georg Drewes, demonstrated early artistic talent at Saldria Gymnasium, excelling in painting and woodblock printing. Drafted into the German army at eighteen, he served on the Western Front during World War I, finding solace in sketching amid the horrors of war. Postwar, Drewes pursued architecture at the Technisc...