Doorman, Chez Bocuse, Lyon, France
Date1991, printed c. 2002
Artist
Ralph Gibson
(American photographer, born 1939)
MediumChromogenic color print
Dimensionsimage: 18 × 12 in. (45.7 × 30.5 cm)
sheet: 19 15/16 × 15 15/16 in. (50.6 × 40.5 cm)
sheet: 19 15/16 × 15 15/16 in. (50.6 × 40.5 cm)
Credit LineGift of Daniel Calacci, 2003
Object number2003-30.4
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPHOTOGRAPH
Label TextThe French chef Paul Bocuse is known for introducing what came to called nouvelle cuisine—a style of preparation that stressed lightness in comparison to the traditional cooking techniques of France's grande cuisine. Dishes were lower in fat, made sparse use of sauces and emphasized artistic presentation.A dish might consist of three finger-sized slices of chicken lying in (never under) a tiny pool of unthickened sauce surrounded by strips of parboiled vegetables and flower petals. As the author Margaret Visser once pointed out to me, the skimpiness of the portions and the cost of a nouvelle cuisine meal reflected a common belief among successful people that you can never be too thin or too rich. And the fact that anyone interested in satisfying a healthy appetite was forced to order several dishes made the owners of the restaurants equally successful.
—Burt Wolf
