At the Auberge Ravoux, in a tiny artists' village twenty miles from Paris, Vincent Van Gogh experienced a burst of creativity, producing some seventy works in an astounding seventy days. The auberge, his last home, operates today as the Maison de Van Gogh, and little has changed in the intervening century: visitors are still treated to the comforting, delicious cuisine that he would have enjoyed in 1890. Van Gogh's Table is an intimate view into this world, as revealing as sharing poulet and pommes sautées with the artist himself: fifty recipes; a richly detailed history of this period of the artist's life; a fascinating examination of the central role of the café in French culture; and carefully selected engravings, postcards, letters, and paintings, all woven together into a singular perspective on a man and a place, during a remarkable moment in history.
About the Author, Alexandra Leaf
Alexandra Leaf has lectured to museum audiences throughout the country on the food culture of Impressionist France. She pioneered the teaching of culinary history at the New School for Social Research, where she taught for many years. She is the author of The Impressionists’ Table.
Dr. Fred Leeman is the former Chief Curator of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and is an independent organizer of fine-art exhibitions throughout the world.
