15 Examples of Thanksgiving In Modern and Contemporary Art

Thanksgiving In Modern and Contemporary Art

As an art-focused creative blog, we’ve given you Thanksgiving posts about Art inspired by wishbones, 37 parodies of Rockwell’s Thanksgiving Dinner, Art made from turkey feathers, how Artists would plate Thanksgiving dinners, great vintage Thanksgiving photos by 25 preeminent photographers and Vintage Hollywood Thanksgiving Pin-Ups. About the only thing Thanksgiving related art we have not shared are the depictions of the holiday in contemporary and modern art.

Thanksgiving In Modern and Contemporary Art

From Grandma Moses to Joan Brown, we’ve rounded up some of the greatest depictions of Thanksgiving in modern (1880-1960) and Contemporary (1960- present) art. Various, styles, mediums and sizes, these pieces of art hang in museums and private collections all over the world.

Thanksgiving In Modern and Contemporary Art
Thanksgiving, 2003, John Currin, Tate Gallery, courtesy of Marc Jacobs 2004
Joan Brown, Thanksgiving Turkey, 1959
Joan Brown, Thanksgiving Turkey, 1959, oil on canvas, MoMA, Larry Aldrich Foundation Fund
thanksgiving in art
Grandma Moses, Catching the Thanksgiving Turkey, 1943
Helen Frankenthaler, Thanksgiving Day, 1973
Helen Frankenthaler, Thanksgiving Day, 1973
Roy Lichtenstein, Turkey, 1961
Roy Lichtenstein, Turkey, 1961, Oil on canvas, Private collection
Roe Ethridge, Thanksgiving, 1984
Roe Ethridge, Thanksgiving, 1984, chromogenic print
Horace Pippin, Giving Thanks, 1942
Horace Pippin, Giving Thanks, 1942
Bachor, turkey dinner (mostly white meat)
Jim Bachor, turkey dinner (mostly white meat), 2018, mosaic
Joseph Delaney, Thanksgiving Day Parade when Danny Kaye was Young, 1940
Joseph Delaney, Thanksgiving Day Parade when Danny Kaye was Young, 1940, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum,
Sandy Skoglund, Two plates of corn, 1978
Sandy Skoglund, Two Plates of Corn, 1978, from the series Food Still Lifes
David Bates, Thanksgiving Dinner, 1982
David Bates, Thanksgiving Dinner, 1982, Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
March Avery, Thanksgiving, 1967
March Avery, Thanksgiving, 1967 oil on canvas
Afro Basaldella, Boy with Turkey, 1954
Afro Basaldella, Boy with Turkey, 1954. Oil on canvas. Gift of Nina and Gordon Bunshaft
Werner Drewes, Thanksgiving, 1969
Werner Drewes, Thanksgiving, 1969, color woodcut, Smithsonian American Art Museum,

and shown at top:

Alice Neel, Thanksgiving, 1967
Alice Neel, Thanksgiving, 1967, Whitney Museum of Art

We hope you enjoyed our curated round up for you.

Happy Thanksgiving!