Framed Vintage Food Art
Food can be a very powerful connector between people. This means that framed vintage food posters can be some of the most emotionally satisfying pieces in an art lover’s collection. Food can bring families and friends together, as well as expose people to a different culture for the first time.
Nostalgia is a common theme in framed vintage food wall art. A simple way that artists can evoke this reaction is simply by noticing the price of an item in a previous time. Because of inflation, prices are much higher now than they were several decades ago, although relative purchasing power is not so different. For instance, “Fountain Sodas” by Lisa Alderson indicates that one can buy a fountain soda for five cents, which has not been the case for a very long time. “Malt Shop IV” by Catherine Jones portrays a root beer float available for fifteen cents.
Another way that creators of framed vintage food artwork bring out nostalgia in the audience is through reference to items that were more popular in a previous time. Catherine Jones evokes the classic 1950s diner in “Blue Plate Special,” while Joe Giannakopolous remembers the drive-in from the same decade with “Dixie Piggie Drive-In.”
Food art can also be a way of portraying food, and by extension, the lifestyle of a different culture. While pasta is common throughout much of the world today, for many years it was considered an exotic food outside southern Europe. “Pates Baroni, 1921” by Leonetto Cappiello and “Maccheroni Pianigiani 1922” by Achille Luciano Mauzan feature pasta in works that have become classic pieces. Johanna Kriesel’s “Chocolate au Lait” similarly evokes the lifestyle of France.