A white outline defines a cylindrical aquarium against a field of burnt orange. The water itself is almost impossible to locate; instead, seven fish hover at different angles inside the transparent vessel. The tabletop below carries scattered signs that rhyme with their flicking tails.
Made around the end of the Second World War, the painting uses a restricted palette and deliberately rough surface. An auspicious subject associated with abundance becomes intimate and precarious. The fish have room to move, but their world is visibly bounded.
