NYBG In the News — Tomatoes: The Talk of the Town

Posted in NYBG in the News on August 12 2008, by Plant Talk

Nick Leshi is Associate Director of Public Relations and Electronic Media.

Over 40 years ago, Andy Warhol famously turned a can of tomato soup into a pop culture icon. Now photographer Victor Schrager has turned his camera lens on the tomato itself, elevating it to a high art. The September 2008 issue of Veranda magazine features two articles written by Tom Woodham, gloriously illustrated by Schrager’s stunning images of tomatoes from the gardens of Amy Goldman, a member of The New York Botanical Garden’s Board of Managers.

The pictures give justification for one of the magazine’s headlines, “Tomatoes: The Most Beautiful Fruit.” If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I imagine anyone viewing such a variety of shapes and colors would agree that this bountiful produce captured on film is beautiful indeed.

Read the rest after the jump

The first article is a lovely profile of Amy Goldman, Ph.D., and her new book, The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table—Recipes, Portraits, and History of the World’s Most Beautiful Fruit. (There’s that adjective again!) Readers will be delighted to know that the heirloom tomatoes mentioned in Goldman’s book are as easy to grow as modern hybrid varieties.

The second Veranda article features some of the delicious recipes from the book, such as Tomato Chips, Cherry Tomato Focaccia, Spaghetti with Cherry Tomatoes and Toasted Crumbs, and more. Again, the accompanying photographs by Schrager are so rich in color and detail that the magazine should have printed a warning to readers to have napkins handy for when their mouths start watering!

If you want to see some of these images large and up close, you’ll be happy to know that a selection is on display starting today in The New York Botanical Garden’s Arthur and Janet Ross Gallery in The Heirloom Tomato: An Exhibition of Photographs by Victor Schrager—Portraits of Historic Tomato Varieties from the Gardens of Amy Goldman. Also, a series of stunning bronze sculptures by Goldman are available at Shop in the Garden. They capture the allure of the marvelous shapes of heirloom vegetables, including a luscious tomato named Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter.

To find out more about heirloom tomatoes and other vegetables, you can go to the Seed Savers Exchange, for which Amy also serves on the board. Visitors to The New York Botanical Garden can also see real heirloom tomatoes at the Home Gardening Center.