Poissons et oiseaux de mer

Painted in 1722 and now in the Museum of Dieppe, this combined composition of fish and seabirds reflects the coastal character of Dieppe itself—a major French Channel port with a strong fishing industry—and Oudry's versatility in moving between hunting and coastal natural subjects. Still lifes combining fish and seabirds occupied a category between marine painting, still life, and animal study, and Oudry's ability to render the silvery iridescence of fish scales alongside the varied plumage of coastal birds demonstrated his capacity for exactly this kind of difficult multi-textural subject. Dieppe's civic collection is appropriately focussed on subjects with maritime connections, and a work combining fish and seabirds belonged naturally in such an institution. The early date places this painting in the same period as Oudry's Petit-Pont fire views, confirming his wide range in the years before royal appointments narrowed his focus.

Fish and seabirds presented two of the most technically demanding surface types in animal painting: the reflective, scaled skin of fish and the water-resistant plumage of coastal birds. Oudry rendered fish scales with fine, overlapping crescent strokes that catch painted highlights across the curved body, while seabird feathers required differentiated treatment for waterproofed outer feathers and soft inner down.