As an observational painter I have always loved William Merritt Chase's paintings, and, in particular, "An English Cod," which is in a book I have. I used to marvel at Chase's ability to convey texture in that painting, and how his paint handling was a sort of visual onomatopoeia for the fish's wet, slick skin. Now I'm captured by the expressions of the fish. I didn't know until recently was that he painted several fish paintings--all of them, in my opinion, revealing an empathy for the once-living creatures.