Giuseppe Arcimboldo – Crespelle with Bacon Mushroom Ragu
Italian painter Guiseppe Arcimboldo was know for his portraits but unlike his peers of the 16th century, the faces he depicted were composed of individual objects grouped in a very specific and deliberate way. Out of his body of work The Vegetable Gardener (c.1590) is unique in that it is a double image, first as...
Édouard Manet – Almond Cake with Grapes & Peaches
I was given the opportunity along with a handful of other food bloggers to submit a guest post to the wonderful site The Kitchn. This is the second time I have worked with a still life by Manet and you can find most of the general information about his life and art in my previous...
Andy Warhol – Tomato Soup Cake
Let me first point out that if you decide to make this cake for anyone, call it by its other name, ‘Mystery Cake.’ I first heard of Tomato Soup Cake when I was flipping through a Michigan cookbook while working at a living history museum. This was after my Freshman year of college when cooking...
Paul Gauguin – Caramelized Apple Omelet
Paul Gauguin (full name Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin) was a Post-Impressionist painter whose art heralded the return to the pastoral (idealized landscapes) and Primitivism. He was a major influence in the development of Modern art with his bold colours and design oriented paintings. His travels in Central America impacted his work as he incorporated the...
Georgia O’Keeffe – Apple Crisp with Caramel Sauce
Georgia O’Keeffe is primarily known for her union of abstraction and representation in her works of flowers, rocks, shells, and animal bones. Her flower still life paintings are usually of a single bloom that completely fills the canvas. The scale and composition of her paintings transform her subjects into interesting abstract images with strong lines...
Giovanna Garzoni – Lemon Risotto with Homemade Stock
If you are familiar with still life paintings then you will know that the majority of them will feature a lemon somewhere on the canvas. Traditionally citrus fruits represented the wealth of the patron commissioning the painting because they were exotic commodities that required a substantial sum of money to acquire. In an era where...
Osias Beert – Vlaai with Berry Compote
The Baroque Flemish painter Osias Beert is known for his still life paintings of flowers and breakfast scenes. The breakfast pieces are commonly known by their Dutch name ontbijtjes which translates to ‘little breakfasts.’ These works are characterized by their high vantage point where the viewer is looking down at the scene and this forced...
Juan Sánchez Cotán – Spanish Curtido with Pickled Melon
The Spanish painter Juan Sánchez Cotán is known as a pioneer of realism working within the transition period between Mannerist and Baroque painting. He established the still life style called ‘bodegón’ where the game is dead, the vegetables are uncooked, and the background is dark and bleak which lends a surrealist air to the work...
Frida Kahlo – Pico de Gallo
The majority of Frida Kahlo‘s paintings are self-portraits exploring her sexuality and expressing her pain. As an active communist sympathizer Kahlo’s work does not shy away from political sentiments and she fills her still lifes with local fruit turning them into emblems for her country. The paintings demonstrate her pride and her nationalist sentiments (1)....
Édouard Manet – Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce
Édouard Manet was an artist bent on changing the established practice of art and artists starting with challenging the specific hierarchy of genres. He often painted his still life paintings on large canvases, a size that was generally reserved for the grand genre, history panting. Traditionally still life painting was a way for an artist...
Raphaelle Peale – Orange & Lemon Ice Cream
Raphaelle Peale was a bit of a rebel in the 18th century (as rebellious as becoming a still life painter can be). He was full of the ideals of the American Revolution and like the Founding Fathers who adopted the democracies of ancient Greece and Rome, Peale embraced the ordered and balanced aesthetics of neoclassical...
William Merritt Chase – Pickled Pepper Carrot
William Merritt Chase painted in an Impressionist style and was part of the new wave European-educated American talent. His still life paintings were often against dark backgrounds and although he painted him throughout his career he was better known for his portraits of famous individuals from his time. His home and studio were filled with...