Food

Food and meals have fascinated artists for centuries. If some of them are interested in still lifes and vanitas artworks, many use food in order to criticise the over abundance that our consumerist society encourages. They create figurative art evoking food from fast food chains and supermarkets as well as the highly branded packaging. Artsper presents a selection that will delight your senses, discover famous foods and brands from our consumer society and traditional representations of food: a real artistic menu that will whet your appetite!

But before exploring our selection, why not take a few moments to explore the relationship that links art and food? Eating is a necessary activity for human survival and food plays an important role in our societies and cultures, so it's not surprising that it is a popular subject in the history in art. In Western art, food has been used symbolically, for illustrating a theme and in order to allow artists to showcase their talent in portraying any subject realistically.

In Ancient Greece, artists represented banquets and feasts through painting and mosaics. In Ancient Egypt, drawings of food were found inside funeral chambers as Egyptians believed that due to magical properties, these drawings would provide the sustenance that the deceased needed in the afterlife. However, it was especially from the Renaissance onwards that food became a more recurrent theme. From the 17th century, especially in Holland, Spain and Italy, food became a separate theme and many still lifes focused solely on the subject. Painters depicted with an impressive level of realism and detail abundant displays of food which often included game, seafood, exotic citruses and grapes. Many such paintings have been interpreted as referring to the transient nature of luxury or the dangers of greed. By the end of the 19th century however, artists turned more to genre scenes and depicted food in more realistic settings. As the Realism movement flourished, they even depicted peasant meals.

The arrival of consumerism in the mid 20th century disrupted the role of food in art. Food started to be carefully packaged and branded and it became a means of communication. Several food items such the Coca Cola bottle, the Campbell's canned food or the classic hamburger have reached the rank of icon. Artists often use such foods in their work to comment on and criticise the society around them.

In contemporary art, artists continue to depict foods in paintings but they also use it to create installations, performance art and photographs. Today there seem to be an infinite number of possibilities for food in art.

If you're looking for a painting for your kitchen, why not choose one that reflects the activities taking place in this oh-so-important room? The same goes for your dining room! On Artsper you'll find a wide range of choice, from classical still lifes painted with impressive realism to pop art works and almost abstract ones that evoke food and meals only in passing. With our selection, you're sure to find the work of art for you.

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Categories

Subcategories

Food

Fragments of Still Life

Art of Everyday Beauty

Autumn's Bounty

Sabana

Ensalada Rusa

Snow White

Red peppers

Banane

Face de tarte

Autumn flowers with melon

Nourritures du futur I

Roses Near the Sea

Still life with cherries

N° 1194 Oléron. Détente à La Cotinière.

Sunny a bouquet

In the sun

A Little Extra Sugar

Artistic Macintosh Apple, no. 10/25

Lemon Delight

Snow White's apples

Ghiacciaio

Red apples

Secrets

Pendulum

MC Dollars

Still life

Avant la bouillabaisse

Still life with fruits

Set table

Irises and fruits

Poires du soir

Riding the wave

Midnight Snacks

Still life with fruits

Summer still life

Birthday

La penultima cena

Pomme d'Amour

Dibujos de estudio 4

Red Apple

Few Strokes of Yellow

Wrapping Bonbon Red

Dining Al Fresco On Capri, 1980 Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print

Cléopatre

Talkative pumpkins

Dining On Capri Al Fresco

Just Tender Peaches... (Photorealism still life painting)

Lithographie originale de Gaveau

The Oriental Hotel Bangkok

Palm Beach party

Nicholsons

Dal Lake, 1961 Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print

Oberon’s Lunch - 1966 Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print

Brunch At Brennans - 1960 Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print

Parmigiano grattugiato

Cherries

Sweet life

N°187

Ma quando?

Sweet pears

Cherries

Après-Ski Wine Delight in the Snowy Alps

La boîte de sardines

Nature morte aux fruits et pots

Nature morte aux poivrons rouges, verts et citrons jaunes

Le souper