Image: Horace Pippin, Sunday Morning Breakfast (1943)
On Saturdays we like to divert our attention from the world of dining to the world of art, though we still try to find a connection to the world of food. In recent weeks, we have been posting images of feasts and other meals where people gather to eat. We cannot deny that there is an element of nostalgia in choosing this theme, but there is also an element of hope that one day soon we will eat together again across large tables or packed into small restaurants.
This weekend’s painting is from Horace Pippin. Pippin was a self-taught artist who took up painting to strengthen his arm that was wounded in World War I where he was a member of the Harlem’s Hellfighters. His paintings tend to revolve around a handful of central themes including war, civil rights, Christianity, and the home life of Black Americans. The painting in this post is from the latter category. This interior in various forms and angles shows up in several of his scenes including School Studies, Domino Players, and Sleepers.
Sunday Morning Breakfast was acquired by the Saint Louis Art Museum in 2015 and is displayed as part of its permanent collection. Here is an excerpt from the press release at the time of acquisition:
“Sunday Morning Breakfast depicts a warm family scene. Two young children sit at a central table, as a woman serves them breakfast. A man sits on the left, watching the simple moment. A kettle whistles on boil, the stove glows orange, and the children eagerly await their freshly plated breakfast.
“’Pippin’s reputation rests on the sophisticated balance between abstract design and an evocative, simple narrative, which Sunday Morning Breakfast exemplifies in the charm of its family scene balanced by the modernist geometric order of the room,’ said Melissa Wolfe, the museum’s curator of American art.”
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