Farm to Table: Food and Identity in the Age of Impressionism

Public tou rs are always FREE and meet in the front lobby. \;

F arm to Table: Food and Identity in the Age of Impressionism \;ex plores the intersections of art\, gastronomy\, and national identity in f in-de-siècle France. The exhibition showcases over sixty paintings and s culptures\, including the work of Claude Monet\, Eva Gonzalès\, Victor G ilbert\, Paul Gauguin\, Jules Dalou\, and Vincent van Gogh\, artists who examined the nation’s unique relationship with food. The bounty of France ’s agriculture and the skill of its chefs had long helped to define its s trength and position on the international stage. This self-image as the w orld’s culinary capital became more important in the late nineteenth cent ury as the country grappled with war\, political instability\, imperialis m\, and industrialization. In this climate\, France’s culinary traditions signaled notions of its refinement\, fortitude\, and ingenuity while the y also exposed fractures that destabilized national identity. From cultiv ation to consumption\, food was central to notions of glory but also to t hose of collective pain. \;Farm \;to \;Table \;puts this history on view through the eyes and hands of the period’s greatest artis ts\, who avidly brought subjects from agricultural fields \;to Parisi an dining rooms into \;their painting and sculpture\, documenting and reinforcing monumental cultural shifts at the heart of European modernit y.

Image: Victor Gabriel Gilbert (French\, 1847–1933)\, \;The Square in Front of Les Halles\, 1880\, oil on panel\, 21 1/8 x 29 in.\, Musée d’art moderne André Malraux\, Le Havre\, 163

Homeschool and school groups as well as groups of 10 or more people are not permitted on public tours. Please reach out to the Tour Coordinator and submit a tour request form to ensure the best possi ble tour for your group.

If you need \;accessibility accommod ations\, please contact us in advance at \;access@cincyart.org \; or fill out \;the \;accessibi lity request form.