page_title: Pieter de Putter
section_title: Work
hierarchical_section_title: Pieter de Putter / Work
context_page_description: Pieter de Putter was a Dutch still life painter who was active in The Hague. He mainly painted fish still lifes, game pieces and still lifes with figures, Pieter de Putter was among the first generation of artists who specialized in independent fish still life paintings.
context_section_description: Pieter de Putter was a painter of fish still lifes, game pieces and still lifes with figures, He also painted some portraits and genre style paintings of fishermen and fish markets. He signed his works with a complex monogram consisting of the letters PDVTR, with the P drawn inside the D.
  Pieter de Putter, Jan Dirven and Pieter van Schaeyenborch were among the first generation of artists who specialized in independent fish still life paintings, They had thus evolved away from the work of the earlier generation of Flemish and Dutch painters such as Pieter Aertsen and Joachim Beuckelaer who typically created fish still lifes as part of a larger market scene. De Putter was influential in this genre and had a number of followers, such as his nephew Abraham van Beijeren. 
  He painted almost exclusively freshwater fish. As freshwater fish is generally difficult to clean and not suitable for sale on the market the fish in these still lifes are regarded not as food but as "game". This notion is emphasized through the inclusion in these compositions of nets and other fishing tools. There are four paintings known (at the RKD) on which a cat "watches" the fish. 
  De Putter also produced a number of works with fishermen and fishmongers with fish. These works typically depict men or women together with an extensive fish still life or in a barn.
  Pieter de Putter painted a few still lifes of dead game (pheasant, duck or hare). In addition, de Putter painted a number of portraits, in particular of his brother Pieter van Veen's family.
  De Putter used a cool and monochrome palette, with a preference for brown, which he enlivened by highlighting the silver and white of the fish scales. The light is carefully observed and surface textures rendered with realism. These characteristics of his work show the influence of the Haarlem still life school of painters.
caption: Fisherman holding a pike with other freshwater fish on a table
exif: {"Image ExifOffset": "2132", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}