Il Cavolo

This was painted in Tuscany Italy in 1977. Anthony was brought up in a city and remained quite ignorant about Nature; he bought his vegetables in a greengrocer's shop and gave no thought whatsoever as to the origins of his food. In Italy he came to know the joys of having his own vegetable garden, and witnessed for the first time vegetables actually growing out of the ground! He was excited beyond words, especially by this magnificent cabbage, and as soon as it had been cut , he rushed it up to his studio and poured out all his joy and admiration onto this canvas , loving even the holes made by caterpillars. He painted the leaves with the reverence of a drapery study . By word of mouth , this painting became so well known that people would come from miles around to see "Il Cavolo d'Antonio".