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

In a country with about 1200 kinds of cheese, the cow is an important animal. The cows of Normandy are especially famous. Their milk is made into Camembert and Brie cheeses.

Eugen Bourdin, Herd of Cows under Stormy Sky (plain air painting)

You have probably seen many glamorous still life paintings of carefully arranged fruit and flowers, but how about a bunch of asparagus?

The cabbage is historically the food of the poor. Here Pissarro shows a peasant lovingly holding a head of cabbage. Pissarro lived in rural Pontoise just outside Paris for ten years and often painted what he saw around him.

Here is another Pissarro involving cabbage this time picking cabbages in a cabbage patch.

Below is an apple orchard painted at Fontainebleau, just outside Paris. It captures the feeling of a breezy spring day.

Markets are bustling places in France, both in cities and small towns, and everyone goes to shop. Many French people still shop daily or every other day to ensure quality and freshness.

Here is the old covered central market of Paris, Les Halles (now replaced with a shopping mall.) The farmers and fishermen brought their products in and sold directly to the customer. All classes mingled as they shopped and restauranteurs came early in the morning to buy for the day.

Square in Front of Les Halles, Victor Gabirel Gilbert

Here the shoppers are buying fish fresh off the boats on the shore. Ravanne is noted for his paintings of the sea.

Fishermen, Léon Gustave Ravanne