"Waitress at the Cannibal Kitchen Restaurant"
Jean-Anne Lechter
As one of the first Depressionist/Radical Feminist painters, Lechter soon found herself drawn into the shadowy world of vindictive cannibalism, where abusive spouses or boyfriends, freeloaders, manipulators, deadbeat dads and Republicans were served up as specialties of the house.
Her first work to gain attention was the banquet scene entitled "We Don't Hate Men; They Taste Just Like Chicken". Next came the large canvas "Choucroute Garnie with TV Remote," then "Thus I Remember Marvin," a whimsical piece featuring a head buried in a newspaper sports section, surrounded by barbecue.
The subject work (informally known as "Gretchen Finally Gives Head") is generally considered to be Lechter's finest portrait, featuring the artist's daughter and former son-in-law, Frank. There has been considerable academic argument as to the existence of a real Cannibal Kitchen, or whether this was just the painter's flight of fancy. It is known that Lechter's daughter was trained as a surgeon's assistant before enrolling in the Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris.
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Acquisition funded in part by a grant from McDahmers®, originator of Cheater's McNuggets™
