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

Food and art have long formed the fabric of culture. Just as our digital feeds now overflow with images of friends gathered around vibrant dishes and drinks, home cooks prepping tasty spreads and neighbors tending community gardens, so too did canvases after the Franco-Prussian War teem with scenes of grub and goodwill. These depictions of kitchens and cafés, fields and feasts, captured moments of resilience and renewal — reflections of comfort, conviviality and a collective return to the familiar rhythms of daily life.

Travel back to a time when food made France with Farm to Table: Art, Food, and Identity in the Age of Impressionism at the Seattle Art Museum. In the late 19th century, as the country grappled with war, political instability and shifting social dynamics, food served as a source of national pride. Impressionist artists helped France solidify its reputation as a global culinary capital.

Experience over 50 artworks at this delicious, food-focused installation – landscapes, market and cafe scenes, still lifes and vivid portraits, as well as several sculptures – from some of the most famous artists of the day, including Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Paul Gauguin. Also on view are more obscure painters including Eugène Boudin, William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Victor Gabriel Gilbert, each artist adding richness to the story of iconic French food culture.

From gardens to markets, cultivation to consumption, feed your senses with this delectable exhibition on display through mid-January.

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With three dynamic locations, Seattle Art Museum has been the center for visual arts in the Pacific Northwest since 1933.