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On the Best Art and Food Pairings at the Nasher Museum of Art

Heading out to the Nasher can be a different experience for everyone. With this handy guide, tailoring your art and cafe consumption to be in line has never been easier. 

This content is brought to you by The Dirt, The Chronicle’s weekly newsletter for all that’s trending for Duke students on campus and in the Triangle area.

After viewing The Enclave by Richard Mosse, you should order… a Latte with Whole Milk.

The Enclave is a 39 minute video loop played out across six different screens for an immersive, and intense, look at life, death and war in the Congo. The raw and unpredictable footage is enhanced by the immersion of the floating screens, and after it is over, you might need a moment to gather your thoughts on the piece. So order a latte and settle in with your friends. This piece is best if discussed for a while.

After viewing the 20th Century mask of the Yoruba Peoples, you should order… an Artisanal Cheese Plate.

Imagine wearing this mask—with five different heads each trying to pick five different meals to try off the menu, food envy is inevitable. So after viewing this piece, opt for the cheese plate. You can try three different types of cheese and each come with their own accompaniment. Basically everyone leaves happy, even if you have a few extra heads to please.

After viewing the Four Reliefs of Apostles from 12th Century France, you should order… the Parisian Salad.

When viewing French art, eat as the Parisians do. This dish has all the makings of a traditional salad, when out of nowhere, there are bursts of dried cherries. The welcome surprise to your taste buds is almost as shocking as discovering a traditional limestone sculpture of apostles that are all wearing neon colored clothing.

After viewing If the Leader Only Knew by Hank Willis Thomas, you should order… the Warm Mushroom Salad.

This piece will leave you feeling uncomfortable. Hands reach out from the wall to grip barbed wire. It is unsettling, and it makes you think of images from the Holocaust and the collapse of the Berlin Wall. This is definitely a piece to start a conversation around, but first you need some time to reflect on it yourself. So go for the most comforting thing on the menu, the Warm Mushroom Salad, and start contemplating. You will be glad you did.

After viewing Monumental Head of God or Ruler from 2nd Century Rome, you should order… Pesto Pasta.

Sorry to point out the obvious here, but this sculpture has no mouth. Regardless, she is still beautifully detailed, and she serves as a great reminder that time may too take away your ability to eat pasta. So enjoy it while you can and order a double portion. Because pesto pasta is just plain delicious.

After viewing Bahsir (Robert Gowens) by Barkley L. Hendricks, you should order… the Portabella Panini.

One man has many sides and traits that cannot be captured by just one angle, so Hendricks tackled this subject from three different perspectives. Likewise, a good sandwhich cannot be summed up by just one characteristic, and the Portabella Panini doesn’t even try to fit into one convention. There are the mushrooms, the cheese, the caramelized onions, and then all of the sudden, totally unexpected, a surprise of balsamic reduction. Is it delicious? Of course. But more importantly, this is a complex sandwich to be eaten after viewing a complex work of art.

After viewing Feast of Herod by the Studio of Peter Paul Rubens, you should order… the Red, White and Green Panini.

Are you looking closely? Like really closely? Do you notice what the woman in the foreground is serving on a silver platter? That’s right. It is a head—a human head to be exact—and once you see it, you can never unsee it. That seems like quite enough gore for one day, so order the Nasher’s version of an adult grilled cheese—vegetarian of course because seeing John the Baptist’s head on a plate is enough to make anyone forgo meat for the day.

After viewing Nunna My Heros: After Barkley Hendricks’ 'Icon for My Man Superman by Fahamu Pecou, you should order… Giorgio’s Mezze.

This painting serves as a representation of the struggle that Black men face to overcome stereotypes. The painting deconstructs the image that is typically seen of a white Superman, and across the top, it says “aint nuthin but a sandwich,” a pun alluding to sandwiches that are also called heroes. After viewing this painting, the Mezze platter is a great choice because it can be eaten and assembled however the eater desires, there isn’t a set form the way there is with a sandwich.

After viewing Monument Canada by Christian Boltanski, you should order… a Mimosa with Brut Cava from Catalonia, Spain.

If you have ever put off doing laundry for so long that your laundry basket overflowed, this art piece may resonate with you. Stacked high beneath blurry black and white photos, these folded clothes are far more neat than the piles of dirt clothes that litter campus dorm rooms, but it does give me hope that someday my mess could be in a museum. So order a mimosa and celebrate, or cry because Boltanski’s stacked clothes are still better than my best attempt at art.

After viewing Miss Francis Lord Seymour by George Luks, you should order… the Warm French Apple Tart with Vanilla Bean Gelato.

After viewing this piece, you should embrace your inner child and order dessert first. Because George Luks was an American painter, he would more than approve of ordering the Nasher’s version of All-American apple pie. 

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Artwork image credits:

Christian Boltanski, Monument Canada, 1988. Black-and-white photographs, lights, clothes and mixed media; 110 x 70 x 7 inches (279.4 x 177.8 x 17.8 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel J. Heyman, 2005.3.1. © Christian Boltanski / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

French, Four reliefs of apostles, c. 1125-1150. Limestone, approx. 34 x 11 ¾ inches (86.4 x 29.8 cm) each. Nasher Museum of Art. The Brummer Collection, 1966.147-150.

Richard Mosse, Safe From Harm, a member of Mai Mai Yakutumba in a scene from The Enclave showing a simulated battle sequence performed by this rebel group in Fizi, South Kivu, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, 2012. © Richard Mosse. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Hank Willis Thomas, If the Leader Only Knew from the Punctum Series, 2014. Bronze, 7 1/2 × 63 × 7 1/4 inches (19.1 × 160 × 18.4 cm). Nasher Museum of Art. Promised gift of Marjorie and Michael Levine (T’84, P’16, P’19, P’19); L.7.2015.1. © Hank Willis Thomas. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Yoruba peoples (Nigeria), Mask (gelede), 20th century. Paint on wood, 15 5/8 x 16 x 14 inches (39.7 x 40.6 x 35.6 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Edward Last, 1976.20.10.

Fahamu Pecou, Nunna My Heros: After Barkley Hendricks’ 'Icon for My Man Superman,' 1969, 2011. Acrylic, gold leaf, and oil stick on canvas; 63 x 49 1/2 inches (160 x 125.7 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art. Gift of Marjorie and Michael Levine (T’84, P’16, P’19, P’19); 2012.8.1. © Fahamu Pecou.

Barkley L. Hendricks, Bahsir (Robert Gowens), 1975. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 83 ½ x 66 inches (212.1 x 167.6 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art. Museum purchase with additional funds provided by Jack Neely, 2007.5.1. © Barkley L. Hendricks. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, New York.

Roman, Monumental head of god or ruler, 2nd century CE. Greek marble, 28 3/8 x 16 5/16 x 14 15/16 inches (72 x 41.5 x 38 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art. Museum purchase, 2002.9.1.

Studio of Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish, Feast of Herod, c. 1635. Oil on panel, 28 1/4 x 41 3/4 inches (71.8 x 106 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art. Gift in honor of Marilyn M. Segal by her children, 1998.22.9.

George Luks, Miss Francis Lord Seymour, c. 1915. Oil on canvas, 36 x 26 inches (91.4 x 66 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art. Gift of Mary D.B.T. Semans and James H. Semans, M.D.; 1969.10.1.