Talbott’s Apple Pie Picnic is a send-up of the cliché “As American as apple pie.” Talbott jams as many icons as he can on the picnic cloth. Marilyn Monroe is on her knees next to a picnic basket, a steaming apple pie, a copy of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, and the familiar image of James Montgomery Flagg’s Uncle Sam. Marilyn dreams, and Uncle Sam mouths the famous words from Flagg’s war poster, “I want you,” to picnic, no doubt.
Featured Image: David Russell Talbot. Apple Pie Picnic (2008), oil on canvas. Private Collection.