Food and Drink for Thought

COMESTIBLES APPEAR nearly everywhere in the history of European art, notably in depictions of luscious fruits and vegetables, sumptuous feasts and bustling markets. The Norton Simon Museum’s All Consuming: Art and the Essence of Food explores how the artists responded to and shaped food cultures from 1500 to 1900. The images present the subject’s aesthetic appeal and reveal activities that give them profound social meaning: indulging, abstaining, buying, selling, making, growing, craving and sharing. Sixty paintings, prints, photographs and sculptures examine the dynamics of eating and drinking, positive and negative. Assistant curator Maggie Bell presents them in sections titled “Hunger,” “Excess” and “Sustenance.” 411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, 626.449.6840, nortonsimon.org