Feasting on Art

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• Frida Kahlo, Naturaleza Muerta Con Sandias (Still Life with Watermelon), 1953
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If you've ever moseyed through a museum only to find yourself starving, wondering why an hour of cultural enrichment has you jonesing for fruit, we're talking to you. Megan Fizell is too -- on Feasting on Art, a blog that proves that art does, indeed, make you hungry.

In every post, Fizell (who has a more-than-trustworthy art history pedigree) selects a piece of food-based artwork -- a platter of apples, a wedge of cheese, a slice of pizza -- and muses from there. Whether she's giving us a primer on an artist or hosting her own recipe contest (Did someone say recipe contest? We love those!), Fizell gracefully takes us from palette to plate, exposing the truly delicious side of visual culture.

We can't get enough of the site's inimitably sophisticated approach to the worlds of food and art, as Fizell smartly applies Theo Van Rysselberghe to Plum Applesauce and William Joseph Closky (and M.F.K. Fisher) to Oven Candied Tangerines. Each recipe begins with an image of the artwork itself, which comes to life through Frizell's still life photographs of her cooking process. On occasion, you may think to yourself, "Jiminy, how did she get Beetroot Jam from that Louis Comfort Tiffany?" but once you see the final product, it all adds up, thanks to Fizell's great eye. And, oh does the conversation flow on her posts -- the comments sections are a read in themselves.   

Start with the beautiful collage index of paintings linked to their respective recipes, or the extensive list of recipes that bring you back to the mini-stories of their provenance. The plate is truly Fizell's canvas and, between this blog and the comfort of your home kitchen, you could skip the museum all together.