Pumpkins in Art: From Yayoi Kusama to Maniac Pumpkin Carvers

Pumpkins have long served as a subject in art, appearing in works by Yayoi Kusama, Vincent van Gogh, and others. Kusama's pumpkin works are shown at Victoria Miro Gallery in London. In a painting by Fausto Zonaro, a young girl carries a pumpkin; the work is held at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum in Istanbul. Théodule Ribot's 'Still Life with Pumpkin, Plums, Cherries, Figs, and Jug' (ca. 1860) contrasts the pumpkin's warm tones with cooler objects and is in the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum. Van Gogh's 'Still Life with Two Jars and Two Pumpkins' (1885), in a private collection, avoids perfect symmetry. Juan van der Hamen's 'Still Life with Fruit and Vegetables' (1625), at the Museo del Prado, exemplifies the Spanish bodegón genre, which became popular in the first half of the 17th century. For seven years, Maniac Pumpkin Carvers have created an Artists Series for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, carving pumpkins inspired by works such as Van Gogh's 'Starry Night,' Keith Haring, Pablo Picasso's 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon,' and Salvador Dalí's 'The Persistence of Memory.' The jack-o'-lantern tradition is linked to the story of Stingy Jack, who tricked the devil but also himself.