Food in Art – CYNTHIA D. BERTELSEN

Le départ des fruits et légumes du cœur de Paris: The Loss of Paris’s Les Halles

February 28, 2011

In 1969, Paris’s ancient central market of Les Halles, having grown enormously, and congested to boot, moved to Rungis, just on the outskirts of the city. Émile Zola wrote of the old Les Halles in his The Belly of Paris, volume three of Zola’s twenty novels examining the French bourgeoisie, civil conflict, hunger, and poverty. … More Le départ des fruits et légumes du cœur de Paris: The Loss of Paris’s Les Halles

Curl Up with a Nice Food Blog …

July 21, 2010

The creativity, wit, and wisdom of food bloggers never ceases to amaze me. And so today, I simply must let you know about some new, to me anyway, blogs (and bloggers) that I’ve run across lately. Here are two that provide gorgeous pictures, along with commentary and a bit of food history: “An English Kitchen,” … More Curl Up with a Nice Food Blog …

To the Cooks, Prosit! Part II

November 25, 2009

He turns the spit who never tasted a morsel from it. Proverbes en Rimes, no. 117. Continuing our salute to cooks this holiday season (Thanksgiving), today’s post includes some depictions of male cooks, as well as female cooks. Medieval opinions of cooks, mostly men, tended to reflect the lowly status accorded to people who worked … More To the Cooks, Prosit! Part II

To the Cooks, Prosit! Part I

November 23, 2009

Sir Thomas More in his Utopia (1516), in delineating what would make an ideal society, said: .. all vyle service, all slaverie and drudgerye, with all the laboursome toyle and busines, is done by bondmen. But the women of every famelie by course have the office and charge of cokerye … and orderyng al thinges … More To the Cooks, Prosit! Part I

The Chicken or the Egg? 1. The Egg and Art*

October 12, 2009

The egg it is where it was at for Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí, who once said, rather egotistically (!), that “When I was three I wanted to be a cook. At the age of six I wanted to be Napoleon. Since then my ambition has increased all the time” The other day, thoughts of … More The Chicken or the Egg? 1. The Egg and Art*

Food In Art: Giuseppe Arcimboldo

February 27, 2009

One of the most intriguing artists I know of went by the name of Giuseppe Arcimboldo (also known as Arcimboldi, 1527 – 1593). A series of four paintings hangs in the Museé du Louvre in Paris and every time I see the paintings, I wish they belonged to me. This Italian artist painted these Mannerist … More Food In Art: Giuseppe Arcimboldo

The Inauguration of 2009 Rendered in Art

January 31, 2009

Artist Maira Kalman turned the Inauguration of 2009 into an artistic rendition of universal experience. Antoine Vollon’s eggs and butter caught my attention. I am offering this link in the spirit of the artist, as a celebration of America. And, of course, of food and community. Dine with your friends and sup with your enemies. … More The Inauguration of 2009 Rendered in Art