Food, Glorious Food

Madison & 33rd | circa 1952

I grew up in the restaurant business. My parents owned & ran a place in Manhattan for 31 years that was very New York: a restaurant that catered to business people in Murray Hill, which meant that the breakfast and lunch hours were mobbed with customers who appreciated the huge menu and delicious food. I painted it from a black and white photograph, taken by my father, an amateur photographer, whose reflection, in his overcoat and fedora, is barely visible in the glass door.

Add that to the fact that I married a man who, for most of his life, lived to eat, and it’s no wonder that I paint so much food. Plenty of pears, apples and oranges, tomatoes and other salad veggies, cake and candy, even some beverages have inspired me. A couple of years ago, I painted a hot pastrami sandwich for my husband for his birthday, in lieu of the real thing. It got such a good reception that I followed it up with a hot dog with mustard and sauerkraut.