Documentation

 


                

 BEETS

Beets are known mostly in the United states in their nutritious, easy to cultivate form, the red beet root.  This vegetable has a massive history, recorded as being cultivated as far back as the second millennium BC.  The plant was probably domesticated somewhere along the Mediterranean, where it then was spread to Babylonia in the 8th century, and then to our thanksgiving tables for it's rich taste and nutritional value.
Its bright color has also bought it fame in many art works in history.

APPLES

Apples actually come from trees that are in the rose family, making them closely related to rose hips.  It is the number one fruit that is most cultivated by humans.  Its genome has been entirely decoded, allowing for apple growers to weed out disease and deformation in the plants.  Apples have even been created to taste like other fruits, including grapes and oranges.

   Because of apples' bright color and interesting shape, it has also been included in many paintings throughout art history, including many religious paintings of Adam and Eve.  Apples have been known to symbolize fertility and wealth in many paintings.  For some reason however, the forbidden fruit in pictures with Adam and Eve has always been depicted as an apple, even though geographically it was impossible for apples to grow in that part of the world.

                                 

 GREEN BEANS

Green Beans, otherwise known as French beans, are a universally distributed vegetable.  The term "green bean" means the unripened fruit of any kind of bean.  Green beans have been historically related to the Thanksgiving meal time, but because they contain high levels of a chemical called Lectin, are harmful if consumed in large quantities.

 CAMPBELLS CANNED SOUP

The Campbells soup company was started in 1869 by Mr. Campbell.  It really took off when Mr. John J. Dorrence discovered a way to further condense soups, and then eventually took over the company.  After that, the Campbell company took heavily to the advertising business, becoming one of the most popular brands of canned soup even in the UK, where it was known as "bachelors canned soup".

A piece of Campbells soup in art history that is still strong in everyone's mind is that of Andy Warhall.  He took the labels off of many cans of soups, and arranged them in interesting patterns, creating one of his first silk screen creations.  

 

CORN

Corn is actually a grain, originating in South America.  After colonial settlers came to America, corn was brought back to europe as a diet staple.  Corn has to be rotated between growing fields, because of the way it depletes the soil.  The Aztecs revered corn as a holy food given to them by the gods of civilization.

Corn can be seen in the art of the Huichol people, native to mexico.  Corn is such an important part of their culture, that depicted in their art, their god of all gods, Takutzi Nakahue, is also the god that is specifically in charge of protecting corn.  

 PUMPKINS

Pumpkins are native to america.  Jack-o-lanterns were originally carved out of turnips for Halloween, but the pumpkin soon became more popular, because of its size, ease of carving, and availability.  Pumpkins are a gourd, even though the name translates to "large mellon".  Pumpkins can be cooked in a variety of ways, including being steamed, salted, sugared, or put in stews.

Pumpkins have been turned in to art for as long as the irish legend of "Stingy Jack" has been around.  The legend of Stingy Jack was the he went about tricking the devil, which angered him so much that the devil refused to take his soul when he died.  The legend says also that God, after seeing Jack trick the devil, decided that he did not want such an unsavory character in heaven either, which means that on hallows eve, the spirit of Stingy Jack wonders the world to cause havoc and play tricks, unless he is scared off by a face on a gourd or pumpkin or other vegetable with a face carved in it.