Michael B. Emery’s ancestors include both Quaker and Amish farmers. A graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, he is the Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum’s Educator and Volunteer Coordinator. Irwin Richman, Professor Emeritus, The Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg, works with the Landis Valley Associates, a private group dedicated to forwarding the aims of the Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum.
In their collaborative effort, ‘The Graphic Vegetable: Food and Art from America’s Soil‘, Emery and Richman have compiled 580 juicy images that capture the fact that throughout history, artists and artisans have depicted vegetables in remarkable ways. Read on to learn more about this Schiffer Publishing book and enter below to win one of two copies!
1. Tell us a bit about “The Graphic Vegetable” and its importance from an artistic and historical standpoint.
This is a book designed to educate the reader about the changing attitudes towards vegetables over the years and to highlight the inter-relationships between vegetable raising and consumption and American art and pop culture.
2. What valuable insights will readers garner from reading this book?
A better understanding of the inter-relationships, not always obvious, central to the understanding of the modern world. In this case how vegetables illustrate and create important aspects of American culture.
3. How did you develop an interest in vegetable art?
We both like to eat and we both have elevated aesthetic sensibilities.
4. What are some of the most unusual pieces of vegetable art you came across ?
 The Carrot” by Dutch painter Willem Frederich von Royen, 1699 |
 Bay State Fertilizer Victorian Ad Trade Card: Watermelon Man |
 “Gay Johnny, Texas Vegetables” label |
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New Yorker Magazine Cover – October 30, 1989 of a Charles Addams cartoon of a pumpkin
postcard “Water-melon Blockade in Kansas”
5. What are some of your favorite pieces of vegetable art and why?
“Popeye” by Jeff Koons. Who can resist a six foot tall stainless steel statue?
“Kansas Cornfield” by John Steuart Curry. Muscular, dynamic and aesthetic – all in a painting of corn!
“Still Life with Red Cabbage and Rhubarb” by Charles Demuth. Modernist painting of a must unusual pairing.
“Hot Beds” by Earnest Lawson. A lyrically beautiful impressionist painting.
To enter, simply leave a comment on this blog post by midnight on Sunday, October 1, 2017 (be sure to provide a valid e-mail address) in answer to the following question: Why do you want to win a copy of The Graphic Vegetable? Be sure to include a valid e-mail address. The winner will be drawn at random from all qualified entrants, and notified via e-mail. (See rules for more information.) |
