The following article was written by Rahr-West Art Museum Staff, Board Members, and Public Arts Committee Members.
In honor of a new year, Museum Staff, the Public Arts Committee, and Rahr-West Art Museum Board members curated art pairings with food and drinks as a suggestion for New Year’s celebrations. These pairings, centered on art from the Rahr-West Art Museum’s permanent collection, aim to find harmony between the senses, combining taste with visuals for a unique experience.
The Gossips, R. C. Gorman, Lithograph, 1977, 90.6.3, Gift of Mrs. John D. West
Sonia Vasquez: R. C. Gorman’s ‘The Gossips’ and Highlander Grog
The Gossips by R.C. Gorman is reminiscent of the holiday season with family, chatting and enjoying a warm cup of Highlander Grog. I can imagine the three figures as sisters, huddled together with their warm cups in hand. The smell of fresh brewed coffee wafts through the air. Snow and brisk wind rustles outside. As the title of the painting suggests, the sisters indulge in some gossip – giggling, oohing and ahhing as they share stories. Their blankets add to the narrative with layers of warmth, tradition, craft, and culture.
Colorful People, Karel Appel, Serigraph, 1974, 83.10.76, Gift of Mark and Helen Hooper
Carrie Estrella: Karel Appel’s ‘Colorful People’ and Brandy Slush
This picture reminds me of a New Year’s Eve party where everyone is warm and friendly, embracing the dawn of the upcoming year together. Colorful hats, noisemakers, confetti poppers, glitter, balloons, party dresses and handsome tuxedos – everything seems to blend seamlessly together, more sparkly and beautiful than normal, especially with our minds functioning in a “heightened” state of appreciation, courtesy of a few drinks of choice.
And in my hand I find a Brandy Slush – a subtle reminder of the messy sidewalks and streets awaiting me outside this vibrant oasis of merriment. The drink is chilly and refreshing, regulating my body temperature as dancing bodies press around me. (Obviously I speak of pre-COVID times.)
Should you care to imbibe with me this New Year’s Eve, here is the recipe for a Brandy Slush. Note – you must make it ahead of time!
3…2…1… Happy New Year!
Living Room Door Reflection, John Sayers, Oil, 1980, 82.197.36, Gift of Mrs. John D. West
Greg Vadney: John Sayers’ ‘Living Room Door Reflection’ and Aunt Sheila’s Chicken Cutlets
My selection for the 2021 art and food pairing is ‘Living Room Door Reflection’ by John Sayers. This example of Sayers’s realism takes me back to family Christmas parties I enjoyed as a child. The painting’s view, through the open living room door into the dining room, reminds me of sitting with my cousins and smelling the aromas from the kitchen as dinner was being prepared. We were a big family, a lot of kids, and formal dining wasn’t going to happen. It was “grab and go” so we could get back to Nintendo, or outside for a football game in the snow. First, we all needed some of my Aunt Sheila’s chicken cutlets – hand breaded and seasoned. We’d eat them by the dozens.
Two Twelves, Leroy Neiman, Serigraph, 1973, 91.12.1, Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Richard Mansfield
Catherine Egger: Leroy Neiman’s ‘Two Twelves’ and a Blue Hawaiian
What a perfect way to end the year! An invigorating New Year’s Eve sail off a tropical island – at least that’s the way I think of this painting. The orange in the sky suggests it’s sunset and they are coming back in from a rough sea (ending a turbulent year?) to calmly celebrate the upcoming new year on the beach.
The oceans cover 71% of the earth. Only 20% of the oceans have been explored. The vast unknowns of the ocean would be the perfect setting to contemplate the past year, what one will strive for and unknowns one might meet up with in the following year – if the water was calm. On this night it was not – so back to shore they go.
The intriguing, seemingly symbolic part of this piece is the woman standing on the upper boat. She seems unflappable – standing at the ready in a place and a way that would seem impossible with the stormy waves raging around her. She has perfectly feminine legs, yet strong arms and shoulders we don’t normally attribute to women. They can carry a heavy load. She seems to mean business and is not going to be detracted by a few crazy waves. It reminds me of the quote, “Fate whispers to the warrior, ‘You cannot withstand the storm.’ The warrior whispers back, ‘I am the storm.’” – Author Unknown
Once they have docked the boats and are celebrating the new year around a bonfire on the beach under the vast ocean-like clear sky above – because the past year’s storm is now just a memory -I guess that more than one Blue Hawaiian drink was mixed up. A Blue Hawaiian is Vodka, Rum, Pineapple Juice, Blue Curacao liquor (an orange flavored liquor with a distinctive blue coloring), and cream of coconut. For those who don’t like coconut, the cream of coconut can be substituted with sweet and sour soda to create a Blue Hawaii. Whichever way you like it, it’s a perfect tropical drink to celebrate the calm after the storm, relax under a star-studded night, and contemplate the year to come with your compadres.
As for that intriguing woman? While she sipped a cocktail or two, and laughed and joked with her friends on the beach that night, she was ready to march on into the new year, prepared to take on whatever challenges laid ahead.
You Come too, Dawn Whitelaw, Oil on Canvas, n.d., 2011.10, Gift of David Wage and Sandra Murzyn
Courtney Hansen: Dawn Whitelaw’s ‘You Come Too’ and Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup
Dawn Whitelaw’s “You Come Too” is one of my favorite pieces in the Rahr-West’s collection. It reminds me of cold winter morning walks or as a child, building snowmen and forts on snow days with my brother.
I imagine that following the depicted snowy outdoor excursion, the subject comes inside to cook up a classic cozy lunch – a buttery grilled cheese and big bowl of tomato soup. I think she’d follow her meal up with a mug of hot chocolate, which she’d enjoy while settling into a chair by the fireplace to crack open a good book to get lost in for the remainder of the afternoon. Her pup would join her, curled up near her feet with his favorite bone.
