Mmmm

FOOD. That is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Thanksgiving. Now, I know that it may seem a little superficial and maaaaay skim the entire meaning of the holiday, but I also know that I am not alone. There is an entire television network devoted to this basic need, for cryin' out loud. But that's beside the point. The first works of art that pop into my mind when thinking of food are:

Still Life with a Basket of Apples,
c. 1890sPaul Cezanne

The Art Institute of Chicago

and

Summer, c. 16th century

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

The Musée du Louvre, Paris

Ah, they are both so different and so cool. Cezanne's apples are all around pretty circular to go along with the whole geometric theme. While they do not look very realistic-something very characteristic of post-impressionism- they still look absolutely delicious. Cezanne captures the unevenness of the colors in apples just perfectly. Those are the types of apples I'd like to put in an apple pie (painting?) for Thanksgiving :) Ohh, the French. They know their food.

Arcimboldo's fruits and veggies are not so enticing. While they are very life-like in proportion to one another and have coloring and shading that's very realistic, the fact that they are grouped together to form a face is rather grotesque. Can you imagine something like Edible Arrangements (c) delivering one of these to your door? Gee, and I was just thinking I'd get a bouquet of gardenia-shaped melon slices from the boss this year! HR really went above and beyond! But seriously, It's a quirky idea for a painting and I like that. Arcimboldo is famous for paintings like these and I really think it shows a lot of creativity and prowess in painting. Anyway, have a great Thanksgiving everybody! We have a lot of things to be thankful for- and art is definitely one of those things!