Seattle Art Museum exhibit explores France's food identity

France is known for its fine cuisine. A new exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum explores how that came to be.

"Farm to Table: Food and Identity in the Age of Impressionism" features more than 50 works of noted Impressionist artists, including Claude Monet and Paul Gauguin. The art depicts farmers, food workers, and consumers in late 19th century France.

Curator Theresa Papanikolas says the country was coming out of a period of upheaval.

“It had been taken over by the Germans in the Franco-Prussian War and occupied for what, two years. Paris had suffered a revolution… there were food shortages,” Papanikolas explained. “And French people turned to food, especially in art as a reminder of what makes France great at a grim time.”

One of the culinary symbols represented in the show is Les Halles, Paris’s central markets. Les Halles not only showcased the bounty of the land and sea. Papanikolas says the market scenes highlighted class interactions.

“You see in both of these paintings a mix of people, people from every class, every social situation,” Papanikolas said. “It’s really the intersection of the rural and the urban.”

The exhibition hopes to spark conversation. There’s a dining table set up like one of the still-life paintings, with prompt cards tucked between the plates.

Seattle is the final stop on its national tour. It runs through Jan. 18, 2026.