David Ligare
David Ligare has been called a “California Classicist.” Influenced by the Neoclassical painters of the 17th and 18th centuries, his figures, landscapes, and still lifes take their inspiration from classical ancient themes. He counts among his models the Greek sculptor Polykleitos and the mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras, as well as the classical painter Nicolas Poussin. A resident of Salinas, California, his paintings usually include references to the California coastal landscape.
If these objects were people, how would you describe their interaction?
The foods in this painting—grape juice and bologna sandwiches—are shown as special things. They are, in fact, a meal from the homeless shelter that Ligare helped establish in Salinas, California. In ancient Greece, xenia described the guest-friend relationship. In 2012, Ligare wrote, “In my case, the bread and sandwiches depicted were exactly those served to homeless people in a soup kitchen where I volunteered in Salinas, California. They were literally xenia, or food gifts for strangers.”
Gift of Barbara and William G. Hyland
\ Also in this gallery
