Pablo Picasso: Picasso's Kitchen

This gorgeous hardcover is the perfect gift for lovers of food and art

Food frequently surfaces as a motif in the art of Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), and Picasso's Kitchen presents the many forms that the culinary takes in his work. Adopting as its guiding principle the conceit that "cooking is a subtle revelation of Picasso's art," this handsomely designed volume, with its card-stock cover bearing a tipped-on portrait of the artist, reproduces works alongside photographs of the artist working in his grand studio and the friends and lovers with whom he surrounded himself.

Some of the book's sections examine individual artworks such as Picasso's interpretation of Manet's Déjeuner sur l'herbe or his playful ceramic works, while other sections visit the bohemian cafes and restaurants of Paris and Barcelona where Picasso and other avant-garde artists of the period ate and drank, through menus, photographs, prints and paintings, searching for how these places slipped into the artists' work in ways both overt and subtle. Another section draws on archival material from Picasso's writings on food.

Perfect for the cook, art lover or both, this book vividly conveys how this theme greatly enhances our enjoyment and understanding of Picasso's oeuvre.