Vincent van Gogh – Lemon Poppy Seed Bread & Blueberry Honey Butter
The Post-Impressionist pioneer of Expressionism, Vincent van Gogh, suffered from mental illness which may have been due in part to his love of absinthe and lead poisoning (at that time all paints were lead based). In the beginning of his career his palette was somber and muted. It was after meeting Impressionist painters, Camille Pissarro,...
Cristoforo Munari – Milano Cookies
The late-Baroque, Italian painter, Cristoforno Munari worked predominantly in still life. The standards of Baroque art were encouraged by the Roman Catholic church and embodied iconography and monarchy though an intensely precise handling of paint. Munari was an official court painter for the Medici family, the predominant sponsor of all Renaissance art in Florence. The...
Jeff Koons – Mostaccioli (a.k.a. Moustache) Cookies
My inspiration this week is by the contemporary sculptor, Jeff Koons. His sculpture Moustache (2003) is from the Serpentine Gallery show Popeye Series which encompasses many of the common themes in his work: consumerism, childhood, taste, and banality. The use of inflatable toys has appeared in his sculpture dating back to the late 1970s.(1) One...
Severin Rosen – Strawberry BBQ Pulled Pork
Severin Rosen was a German immigrant who is known as one of the major mid-nineteenth century American still life painters. Rosen’s work featured very similar subject matter, typically fruits, sometimes flowers, arranged on a tabletop with a dark background. Some paintings were so similar that they were almost duplicates with only a few elements of...
Diego Rivera – Chipotle Chicken Enchiladas
Diego Rivera is the world famous Mexican muralist who was an active Communist and was married to Frida Kahlo. His giant frescoes often tell a story which is similar in tradition to the Mayan steles. The subjects revolve around Mexican society with many references to the 1910 revolution. Characteristic to his style were simple figures...
Nora Heysen – Pavlova with Lemon Curd Blueberries
Nora Heysen was the very first woman to win the Archibald Prize for portraiture and was the first woman in Australia to garner an official war artist appointment. She studied at the Central School of Art in London where her appreciation for the work by French artists Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne transformed her classical...
William Merritt Chase – Red Onion Marmalade
This is my second post featuring a still life by William Merritt Chase and like the first painting, Still Life with Pepper and Carrot (c.1900), he painted Just Onions (Onions; Still Life ) (1912) on a dark background in a pseudo-impressionist style with close attention paid to variations in tone. Chase applies the same loose...
Bryant Chapin – Strawberry Shortcake with Blueberry Syrup
In the 1850’s, strawberry shortcake parties were a popular way to celebrate the arrival of summer (2). This sweet dessert is traditionally made with baking soda to produce a crumbly biscuit often referred to as a scone in the UK. For a lower calorie version of the dessert, angel food cake is used to replace...
Henri Matisse – Orange Grapefruit Salad
Henri Matisse, one of the most illustrious 20th-century artists, worked in a beautiful fluid style with strong colour. His work was part of the Fauvist movement which was characterized by emotion expressed with incongruent colours, simplified forms to the point of abstraction, and wild brush strokes (1). A Vase with Oranges (1916) is representative of...
Utagawa Hiroshige – Prawn Dumplings
Utagawa Hiroshige was one of the best later artists of the Japanese ukiyo-e tradition. Ukiyo-e translated means “pictures of the floating world” and it is the common genre for Japanese woodblock paintings. This art form was very popular in Edo (the former name of the city Tokyo). To make ukiyo-e paintings first the master would...
Chinese Chicken Congee
Painted in the Sung Dynasty (960-1279), Mother Hen and Chicks is from “The Golden Era” of Chinese painting. Animals, flowers, and birds were common subjects of this era along with ethereal landscapes. Artists sought to accurately depict their subjects as well as capture their internal substance. It was thought that brushstrokes revealed the spirit of...
Weaver Hawkins – Citrus Cordial
Weaver Hawkins, also known as Raokin, was born in London before moving to Australia. His work was heavily impacted by his experiences in WWII where he lost complete control of his right arm and partial control of his left. His art is characterized by vibrant colour and form influenced by Paul Cézanne’s tendency to map...