Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699 – 1779),

was an 18th-century French painter. He is considered a master of still life,[2] and is also noted for his genre paintings which depict kitchen maids, children, and domestic activities. Carefully balanced composition, soft diffusion of light, and granular impasto characterize his work. Chardin's influence on the art of the modern era was wide-ranging, and has been well-documented. Édouard Manet's half-length Boy Blowing Bubbles and the still lifes of Paul Cézanne are equally indebted to their predecessor.[23] He was one of Henri Matisse's most admired painters; as an art student Matisse made copies of four Chardin paintings in the Louvre. Chaim Soutine's still lifes looked to Chardin for inspiration, as did the paintings of Georges Braque, and later, Giorgio Morandi. His son, Jacques-Charles Oudry, was also a painter. The displayed painting is a crop from: Still life with Cat and Fish 1728.