Fish

We visited the Princeton University Art Museum. It reopened in October 2025 after major renovations that have transformed it into a more inviting and navigable space filled, but not overwhelmingly, with works from many artists. It was here, the day before, that I experienced my first Monet in person!

But this piece, Fish, by Zhang Hongtu 張宏圖 captivated my attention because it reminded me of my photo series, “Me and my shadow”. You can view some of them in my previous share.

Zhang Hongtu 張宏圖
Born 1943, Pingliang, China; active New York, NY
Fish, 1985
Acrylic on canvas

Gift of the P. Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art, and Museum purchase, Asian Art Department Fund (2008-365). Princeton Art Museum.

“In 1982, I lived in lower Manhattan and often walked across Times Square to the Art Students League on 58th Street. I was shocked by the flood of people coming toward me on the narrow sidewalks and soon realized that I was one of the crowd, no different from others... Then, I started Fish. After days of repeated daubing on the canvas, Times Square disappeared, leaving a group of fish jumping into new waters. I tried to locate their expressions, but it was difficult; fright? strangeness? happiness? All right and all wrong. I’ll end with Zhuangzi, the fourth-century BCE Daoist philosopher: Zhuangzi pointed at a river, saying, “How happy are the fish in the river!” Huizi replied, “You are not a fish; how do you know that the fish are happy?” Zhuangzi said, “You are not me; how do you know that I don’t know that fish are happy?””

— Zhang Hongtu