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

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

Farm to Table: Food and Identity in the Age of Impressionism explores the i ntersections of art\, gastronomy\, and national identity in fin-de-siècl e France. The exhibition showcases over sixty paintings and sculptures\, including the work of Claude Monet\, Eva Gonzalès\, Victor Gilbert\, Pau l Gauguin\, Jules Dalou\, and Vincent van Gogh\, artists who examined the nation’s unique relationship with food. The bounty of France’s agricultu re and the skill of its chefs had long helped to define its strength and position on the international stage. This self-image as the world’s culin ary capital became more important in the late nineteenth century as the c ountry grappled with war\, political instability\, imperialism\, and indu strialization. In this climate\, France’s culinary traditions signaled no tions of its refinement\, fortitude\, and ingenuity while they also expos ed fractures that destabilized national identity. From cultivation to con sumption\, food was central to notions of glory but also to those of coll ective pain. Farm to Table puts this history on view through the eyes and hands of the period’s greatest artists\, who avidly brought subjects fro m agricultural fields to Parisian dining rooms into their painting and sc ulpture\, documenting and reinforcing monumental cultural shifts at the h eart of European modernity.

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 th e best possible tour for your group.

If you need accessibility ac commodations\, please contact us in advance at access@cincyart.org or fil l out the accessibility request form.