Kavod on the Road: Sip Sip Hooray! The Art of Coffee, Tea & Chocolate

Enjoying coffee, tea, and chocolate wasn’t always so easy as a quick trip to Trader Joe’s or to the neighborhood café. These treats only became available for the wealthy in 16th-century Europe, a result of globalization and colonization that brought such luxury goods from the Americas, India, and Africa. As the pleasures of consumption took off, so did the visual and material culture related to these delicacies. In this one-hour presentation, we’ll look at the fine and decorative arts surrounding these substances, delighting in European and American paintings that depict the social and sensorial pleasures of imbibing, fine porcelain wares that saw many raised pinky fingers, and caricatures that lampoon these newfangled delights. Throughout the lecture, art historian Molly Medakovich will interrogate the colonial context of this visual and material history.