Mary Pratt. Cod Fillets on Cardboard Cartons, 1975. oil on panel, Overall (sight): 49.5 × 73 cm. Gift of Norcen Energy Resources Limited, 1986. © Estate of Mary Pratt, 1975. 86/55
This work, entitled Cod Fillets in Cardboard Cartons, by artist Mary Pratt is a photorealistic oil painting. It was created in 1975 and measures 49.5 by 73 cm.
Two frozen cod fillets are thawing in their packaging, while light streams across them, casting shadows.
Set upon a bare, beige surface, two light brown cartons of fish fillets sit side by side. The carton on the left is positioned slightly higher than the other. Both cardboard cartons are open, lying flat like plates, and contain paper packaging. The carton on the right is torn on the right edge.
Barely contained by their makeshift plates, the fish fillets and their packaging occupy the whole area of the cartons. The fillets are thawing to be prepared for a home-cooked meal. The large opaque white flakes of the fillets are lit with a warm yellow light created by the afternoon sun cascading over them.
Pratt’s attention to precise realism is represented in the stark contrast of light and shadow on the surface of this painting. The light source in this work is set above the subject at the upper border, beyond the bounds of the frame. This creates a hard shadow on the surface, along the lower edge of the cartons.
This work is in the Food, Glorious Food section of the exhibition and celebrates our universal impulse to document our food that evokes a sense of nostalgia and warmth.