Art For Lunch

I recently read about an exhibition at the National Gallery featuring Luis Melèndez’ works, and I was surprised by my newfound appreciation for still life genre paintings. His paintings are not grandiose in size or subject, but his careful and analytical approach to representing various fruits and vegetables produced works that are scrumptious. The paintings aren’t clouded by the moral lessons about the transience of life that typically come attached to Dutch genre paintings; instead, the audience can fully appreciate the delicious spread in front of them, which is what I am mostly concerned about…

Melèndez was a painter in the 18th century Spain, and he constantly strove to achieve celebrity status in the art world but was less successful than contemporaries such as Goya. Instead of receiving commissions to create mammoth history or mythical paintings, Melèndez was usually asked to work on small-scale illuminations or still life paintings. According to a New York Times article, the artist eventually went broke and died shortly after that, which makes me sad for one, and somehow makes his works more admirable. I respect his tenacity and perseverance. He is now respected as one of the best still life painters during the time.

The hyper-realistic works show every wrinkle and texture of the objects; the representation is so complete that the fragrance permeates through the paintings.

Luis Melèndez: The Master of Spanish Still Life exhibition continues until August 23. If you happen to be in the area, make to sure stop by. And have a big meal before hand so you’re not too hungry while looking at his works.