Food in Art and Art in FoodTastes and Temptations: Food and Art in Renaissance Italy by John Varriano is like a banquet of fascinating concepts. I felt, when reading it, as if I have been waiting for such a book to tell me many things I wanted to learn about the relationship of food and art!Italian Renaissance cookbooks and b…
Thanksgiving Pictures from "Art and Appetite"Doris Lee, "Thanksgiving" (1935)"It may be hard to fathom today how Lee's colorfully cheerful depiction of food preparation was offensive... . The picture was popular with the public, as was Grant Wood's more famous American Gothic, purchased by the Art Institute in 1930. Both pictures represent his…
Coming soon...I spent several hours at the Chicago Art Institute today, enjoying their vast collections of American art, Impressionism, African art, Asian sculpture and ceramics, and more. Sadly, an exhibit that I would love to see doesn't start until next week.The saddest part: many paintings that represent cult…
Ideal 20th Century KitchensNick and Nora Charles and Asta in "The Thin Man" --The Art Deco backgrounds of their beautiful apartment included a pure 1930s kitchen.Yesterday I briefly explored the idea that the art of the twentieth century might, like the art of earlier centuries, be an interesting source of visual information …
Twentieth Century KitchensWhen we want to know what a kitchen was like in the 17th or 18th century, we take a look at the paintings and other art works of the artists of that time. Works by Chardin (1699-1779) in France or Jan Steen (1626- 1669) and many others during the Dutch Golden Age give us wonderful insight into life …
At the MallSome things at the mall are a bit surrealistic. Well, not really. Just a little over-the-top. From our trip to Tyson's Corner last Saturday ......Cake pops from Crumbs Bakery; flavors -- peanut butter and candy corn.Other successes: skinny jeans from Hollister;a sweater from American Eagle.Miss Pigg…
Agriculture and cuisine: different subjects or the same?Hendrick Danckerts: "Royal Gardener John Rose Presenting a Pineapple to King Charles II," 1675 (Wikimedia)I've been reading about the introduction of European and Asian food plants and many domestic animal species to the Spanish colonies of the new world, and about the introduction of new world plan…
A Food ArtistIn today's Diner's Journal in the New York Times: a reference to the work of Pedro Diego Alvarado-Rivera, a nephew of the famous Diego Rivera. Alvarado-Rivera was born in 1956, and studied in France and his native Mexico. "Alvarado-Rivera has devoted most of his pictorial work to the representation …
Art/Food Food/ArtI love painters who make images of food, and often write about their works here. The L.A.Times food section just reviewed a book about making cakes and desserts with themes taken from many modern artists -- WOW!The author, Caitlin Freeman, must be incredibly patient -- just looking at the amazon.com…
Not just crab cakesBaltimore's inner harbor is impressive, and home to a variety of dining places. So yes, I did eat crab cakes for dinner last night at an old-time restaurant called Phillips Seafood, which has been in that neighborhood for over 30 years, though mostly in another location. Now it's next to the really …
