France is a Feast: The Photographic Journey of Paul and Julia Child 1948-1954

Based on the new book by Alex Prud’homme and Katie Pratt, this exhibition showcases rarely seen black and white photographs taken by Paul Child in France between 1948 and 1954. Featuring Paul’s extraordinary photographs of Paris, Marseille and the French countryside after the Second World War, the exhibit will also include rare objects and intimate pictures of Paul’s wife, Julia Child, long before she became a celebrity cookbook author and “The French Chef” on television.

1948 to 1954 was the period of time during which Paul and Julia Child lived in Paris. The images include not only those of his as-yet-unknown wife, but architecture, street scenes, river scenes, fishermen, cats and much more that explore the effects of light and shadow, modernism and abstraction. Among the collection will be the images selected by Edward Steichen for the permanent collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Through his work as a cultural attaché at the US embassy in Paris and later at the US Consulate in Marseille, Paul, a disciplined and ambitious artist, met and was influenced by many of the leading photographers of the day including Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Man Ray, Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, Robert Doisneau and Brassai. Pierre Gassman, the master printer who founded Pictorial Service, developed Child’s images and through him he met and was influenced by Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.         

IMAGE: photo of Julia Child in May, 1952, Paris, by Paul Child

Whether or not you go, France is a Feast: The Photographic Journey of Paul and Julia Child is a revealing collection of photographs taken by Paul Child that document his and Julia Child’s years in France.

Through intimate and compelling photographs taken by her husband Paul Child, a gifted photographer, France is a Feast documents how Julia Child first discovered French cooking and the French way of life. Paul and Julia moved to Paris in 1948 where he was cultural attaché for the US Information Service, and in this role he met Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Brassai, and other leading lights of the photography world. As Julia recalled: “Paris was wonderfully walkable, and it was a natural subject for Paul.”

Their wanderings through the French capital and countryside, frequently photographed by Paul, would help lead to the classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and Julia’s brilliant and celebrated career in books and on television. Though Paul was an accomplished photographer (his work is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art), his photographs remained out of the public eye until the publication of Julia’s memoir, My Life in France, in which several of his images were included. Now, with more than 200 of Paul’s photographs and personal stories recounted by his great-nephew Alex Prud’homme, France is a Feast not only captures this magical period in Paul and Julia’s lives, but also brings to light Paul Child’s own remarkable photographic achievement. 250 Black & White photographs. 

Select  France is a Feast: The Photographic Journey of Paul and Julia Child to learn more or to place this book in your Amazon shopping cart.