Vincent van Gogh – Lemon Poppy Seed Bread & Blueberry Honey Butter
Vincent van Gogh, Still Life: Red Poppies and Daisies (1890), oil on canvas, 65 x 50 cm, Private Collection 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...
Cristoforo Munari – Milano Cookies
Cristoforo Munari, Still-life with Porcelain Vases, Flute, Books, and Oranges (1706-1713) 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...
Jeff Koons – Mostaccioli (a.k.a. Moustache) Cookies
Jeff Koons, Moustache (2003), wrought iron, coated steel chain, polychromed aluminum, 260.4 x 53.3 x 191.8 cm © 2009 Jeff Koons, Serpentine Gallery 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...
Severin Rosen – Strawberry BBQ Pulled Pork
Severin Rosen, Still Life with Strawberries (c. 1848-1870), oil on fabric, 40.6 x 50.8 cm, Private collection Severin Rosen was a German immigrant who is known as one of the major mid-19th-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....
Diego Rivera – Chipotle Chicken Enchiladas
Diego Rivera, Woman Grinding Maize (1924)Encaustic on canvas, 106.7 x 121.9 cm, Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City 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...
Nora Heysen – Pavlova with Lemon Curd Blueberries
Nora Heysen, Eggs (1927), oil on canvas, 36.6 x 52.5 cm, New England Regional Art Museum 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...
William Merritt Chase – Red Onion Marmalade
William Merritt Chase, Just Onions (Onions; Still Life) (1912)Oil on wood panel, 53.34 x 65.25 cm, Los Angeles County Museum of Art 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 )...
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, A Vase with Oranges (1916), oil on canvas, Private Collection 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...
Utagawa Hiroshige – Prawn Dumplings
Utagawa Hiroshige, Lobster and Gray Prawn (from the series A Variety of Fish),Edo Period 19th Century, colour woodcut, 25.2 x 36.7 cm, Tokyo National Museum 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...
Chinese Chicken Congee
Mother Hen and Chicks, Sung Dynasty, Ink & colour on paper, 60.8 x 32.8 cm 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...
Weaver Hawkins – Citrus Cordial
Weaver Hawkins, Little Group with Grapefruit (1942), oil on board, 36 x 46 cm, Private collection 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....