Chinese+Fishmonger,+The

Date: 1881
 * [[image:https://s3.amazonaws.com/saam.media/files/styles/x_large/s3/images/1972/1972.153_1a.jpg?itok=gdS6cJlx width="380" height="287" link="@https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/the-chinese-fishmonger-28249"]] || Title: **The Chinese Fishmonger**

Artist: Theodore Wores Born: San Francisco, California 1859 Died: San Francisco, California 1939

Medium: oil on canvas Dimensions: 34 3/4 x 46 1/8 in. (88.3 x 117.0 cm.) Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Drs. Ben and A. Jess Shenson

Accession: 1972.153 || Theodore Wores came to know San Francisco's Chinatown as a child, when he walked home from his fathers hat business through the bustling Asian community. The Chinese Fishmonger was the first painting he completed after returning to America from Europe, and the dark tones, strong highlights, and expressive brushstrokes reflect his Munich training. Wores struggled to get Chinese people to pose for his paintings until one of his young assistants, a Chinese student named Ah Gai, accompanied him to translate his requests. In this image, Wores captured the glistening, slimy scales of the fish as they slid from the basket onto the tabletop, so that we can imagine the exotic smells and hubbub of Chinatowns street markets.
 * Exhibition Label: **

The Chines characters in the painting are real. Combined, they are a typical name for an establishment, commercial company, or brand name. Their individual meanings are (top to bottom): Widespread, Peace, Bright

Immigration from Asia to the United States begain with a trickle in the 1820s and increased to almost 42,000 in the 1850s because of the Gold Rush. By 1880, the Asian American population of the US was over 230,000. The largest country represented was China and the largest population of Chinese-Americans lived in San Francisco. The growing numbers worried many Americans, sparking political investigations in the 1870s into the "criminal influence" of Chinese immigrants. In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, suspending further immigration until 1943.

"You see, it's the dream of every young artist to find a new line-- something that nobody has done before. No American artist had touched Chinese life, and I saw my chance there." Theodore Wores "Mr. Theodore Wores," Star (London) July 9, 1889


 * Suggested Questions: **
 * What is going on in this picture?
 * Who is the main subject of the picture-- the man or the fish?
 * What might the man's job be like?
 * Why might the artist have chosen to paint this scene?
 * Why is this hanging in the American Art Museum? What part of the American story does it tell?

Wores - A San Francisco Painter Wores Article Packet
 * Resources: **

Artist Biography SAAM Collections Page
 * Links: **