A Centennial Feast for Julia Child

Asked to describe her ideal last meal, Julia Child (whose 100th birthday would have been today) imagined a joyfully decadent menu building from caviar, Russian vodka sauce, and oysters with Pouilly-Fuisse wine to pommes anna and fresh asparagus. Dessert might include ripe pears and green tea or sorbet with walnut cake. Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child (1997) also lists among the heroic foody’s go-to comfort food red meat and gin. Many an artist has also turned to food and flavors for inspiration and happiness. In honor of Julia Child, we present some of the most delectable food moments in The Phillips Collection .

Food Truck Fiesta at Phillips after 5

Clockwise from top left: Long lines at Red Hook Lobster Pound, Master juggler Christian Kloc at the Fojol Bros. of Merlindia truck, Juan José Quintana with his artful Rolling Ficelle sandwiches, Wytold electric cello at Hillyer Art Space, and crowds enjoying food and friends at the museum entrance next to Curbside Cupcakes. Photos: Amy Wike, Suzanne Wright, and Sarah Osborne Bender

Summer Menu: Bonnard’s Orchard

As part of D.C. Eats: Summer of Food, we’ve invited foodies and chefs from around the city to guest blog about their favorite food-focused work of art in The Phillips Collection.

This print by Bonnard resonated with two guest bloggers. Co-Owner of FireFly Farms, Mike Koch is an avid modern art collector and sits on the board of the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William and Mary. Chris Kujala is pastry chef at RIS. His birthday cake design for our 90th anniversary was voted crowd favorite. 

Pierre Bonnard, Orchard, 1899. Color lithograph on paper; 13 x 14 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

I chose this work for the warm, dream-like, green quality of the lithograph. It brought to mind the season:  warm, long summer afternoons with the unique diffusion of bright light that only summer can muster. It brought to mind the foods of summer, in their most elemental form:  fruit, soft-ripened cheeses, crisp vegetables. These are foods that used to be seasonal like the light, but our modern world has made it not so anymore. It brought to mind the bounty and appreciation of this season.

-Mike Koch, FireFly Farms

I like Orchard by Pierre Bonnard because it reminds me of where it all begins and how I look forward to every summer to go to the local farms and pick my own berries and fruit.

-Chris Kujala, RIS