Thanksgiving is, at best, the July Fourth of winter.
This Turkey day, carve out some time from your gobbling to have a think about the many depictions of this storied fowl. In this slideshow you shall find an array of magical turkey artworks sure to leave you salivating—from de Goya to Lichtenstein. Though all of the works shown are from the past two centuries, the practice of still-life depiction of food dates back at least to the Renaissance, when artists began to look at food as the singular subject of a work. Our harvest shows turkeys in an array of states—dead, alive and running, and full of color, from pre–Harry and David spiced brine to post-epic feast.
Thanksgiving honors the first feast of the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians in 1621. The three day long feast featured deer and local fowl, likely including turkey.
Happy Thanksgiving from the team at artnet News.