David Shrigley – Chipotle Ketchup & Dark Beer Mustard
Although David Shrigley’s photographs are included in major public museums including the Tate Collection, he is predominantly known for his humorous cartoons like Who I Am And What I Want 26. His drawings often feature text acting as commentary about the image. The art is rife with satire and he depicts the every day life...
Pablo Picasso – Sangria Chicken & Radicchio Salad
After painting his way through first academic realism, then the subsequent Blue, Rose, and African-Influenced Periods, Cubism, Classicism and finally Surrealism, Pablo Picasso arrived at a point in his life where he reflected – not only on his own work but also the paintings of the Great Masters. He produced paintings based on work by...
Piet Mondrian – Pound Cake
This post is inspired by Caitlin Williams Freeman’s Mondrian Cake from the cafe at the San Francisco Museum of Art. I wanted my version to be easily recreated in any home kitchen. The cake was delicious but there are a few things I will change the next time I try this recipe. First, I will...
Fernand Léger – Michelada
Fernand Léger’s background in architecture proved to be a defining characteristic of his artistic style. The angular forms and patterns found in the paintings from his ‘mechanical period’ all embody the post-war mentality of order and regulation. The horizontal and vertical lines throughout the canvas provide clarity through their repetition in what initially appears to...
Louis Lozowick – Caramel Pear Butter
Louis Lozowick was a Russian born artist who immigrated to the United States in the early 20th century. He produced many lithographs during his 50-year career in his signature streamlined style. He was influenced by urban life, the Russian Constructivism movement, and de Stijl. De Stijl is a term given to a body of work...
Luis Meléndez – Baby Octopus in Sofregit Sauce
Although he received little acclaim during his lifetime, Luis Meléndez is now recognized as one of the greatest 18th-century Spanish still life artists. His works are powerful and striking though his balanced composition and control of light. Highlights are found throughout the painting upon every surface imaginable. The precise brushstrokes convey texture (the smooth skin...
Fernando Botero – Frozen Watermelon Margarita
Fernando Botero is a Colombian artist who gave himself the title “most Colombian of Colombian artists.” Botero is primarily known for his portraits and for the exaggerated the proportions of his subjects. His ‘large people’, deemed obese by critics, are very round and seem to be composed of several bulbous spheres stacked upon one another...
Édouard Manet – Ham, Gruyère, and Moutarde Palmiers
This is my third post to feature a still life by Édouard Manet. As with his still life A Bunch of Asparagus (1880), Manet pays very little attention to composition, and through the placement of the subject in the centre of the canvas he incorporates little else to direct the eye to other areas. This...
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...