Farm To Table: Art, Food, and Identity in the Age of Impressionism, Seattle Art Museum

Art, History, Food??? Yes, Please!

Art, history, food? My favorites! I have been looking forward to this special exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum:  Farm To Table: Art, Food, and Identity in the Age of Impressionism. SAM held a member preview with multiple events, and I made an afternoon of it.

I kicked the afternoon with an exhibition overview. This conversation really helped set the stage of what the French naturalist artists were trying to portray, the history and politics of it all. Some in France really do  think they have the best food in the world, because they have the best land in the world. (Are they wrong?) But what does it mean for your identity when your claim to fame is impacted by war, colonialism, and class division?

I’ve always enjoyed Monet, but I admit I preferred his water lilies and paintings of Giverny. I didn’t really get his haystacks. This exhibition puts those paintings and others like it into context. These artists were portraying different slices of food: farming, selling, serving, eating. There were ~50 paintings in this exhibit, and I really enjoyed the the story and how history and politics wound together.

After the seeing the exhibition, I attended a fun french pastry demonstration. The French chef made three items, but I was only able to try the ratatouille tart, which was delicious. I am putting Mirabelle by Orphée on places I need to go to list.

After doing my duty in the gift shop (I hardly ever cook without a microwave, but have a weakness for pretty cookbooks), I had a late lunch in Market, the restaurant inside the museum.

A quite pleasant and elegant way to pass an afternoon. I highly recommend getting to this exhibition before I leaves. See it at SAM from October 23 – January 18.