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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Subcategories

Food

Com en el meu cor, a cada raconet un record

Llenita de ti

Un dia vam ser aquí...I no ens va faltar res

Summer breakfast

Cake

Banana time

Fragrance of Lemon Trees

Double Cheeseburger End Of The World Giveaway

Winemaker

Just scrambled eggs

The Visitor

Le bac en zinc

La courge

Four amigos

Banana

Manzana roja

Mango

Nature’s Offerings

Pomegranate on grey

Yellow still life

Red Still life #1

Figs

Lazy Susan spice rack, Painting, Oil on canvas

London Graffiti

Bonbon Orange Candy Papillote argent

Bonbon Rose Candy Papillotte argent

Natura morta olandese

Natura morta con vespa

Tour d'horizon

Still Life

A Taste of Trust

Fish and fruit

Summer day by the sea

By the sea

Fish, fruit and wine

Sunday afternoon on the shore

Under the sun of the south

Still life with watermelon and mango

Meal by the sea

Bananas, pomegranate and pepper

Algues et insectes

If It Sprinkles, We Can Eat It

Bonbon rouge

Pears 1

Bananas

Breakfast

Autumn vibes

Plush Pumpkin White (Dots Obsession)

Beef

Bimbo

Vermut

La ménagère

Tulipani all'alba

Autome à Paris

Vineyard at Dusk

Plush Pumpkin Yellow (Dots Obsession)

Sweet pears

Breakfast, Paris

Maharaja Mac

Dolce Vita

Time To Eat (All the Time)

Still life with fruits

A Parrot's Sour Treat: Lemons and Limes

A Sour and Bitter Mix

A Ribbon of Blue and a Squeeze of Lemon

Still life with Watermelon