The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats

The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats is a mural by the English painter Rex Whistler (1905 -1944) commissioned in 1926 and completed in 1927 at the Tate Gallery in London by the museum's first director (monikered "The Keeper of the Tate"), Charles Aitken for the re-opening of the institution's restaurant where to this day it forms the entire interior surround of what is now the eponymously named eatery, "The Rex Whistler Restaurant".[1]

The work has been at the center of controversy in recent years over the artist's depiction of a black child chained to and running behind a horse and cart and images of Chinese people deemed to read as stereotypical.

When the restaurant re-opened with the mural completed it was described by its publicity as "the most amusing room in Europe".[2]  However the organization "the White Pube" began a campaign against the mural on Instagram . The Tate stated in response "“it is important to acknowledge the presence of offensive and unacceptable content and its relationship to racist and imperialist attitudes in the 1920s and today.”[3][4]

History

The mural was commissioned in 1926 and completed in 1927. The idea for a mural in the establishment was first come up with by the  antiques dealer Joseph Doveen who donated 500£ to the nascent effort.[5] Rex Whistler was recommended for the job, submitted drawings, and was chosen for the proect in 1926 while he was still a student at the Slade School of Art. He was paid £5 a day over the 18 months it took to complete the work.[2]

The action depicted in the mural takes place in the fictive land of "Epicurania" ruled over by the "Duke of Epicurania". The content of the mural was created in a collaboration between Whistler and the novelist Edith Olivier (1872-1948).  The story articulated in the work depicts an account wherein an "expedition" of a group of seven people departs in search of exotic meats. They jettison on all manner of tranport; bicycles, carts and horses from their point of departure (the) ‘Duchy of Epicurania’, and venture through bizarre and enchanting lands while coming uoon creatures such as; unicorns, truffle dogs and two giant gluttons guarding the entrance to a cave. The tale finalizes with the adventurers arriving back to an ebulliant welcome, and the menu of the Epicuranians, which had previously consisted of dry biscuits, is forever changed."[2][1]

The mural had restorarion work done to it in 2014 during a £45 million museum revamp. [6]

References

1. "Tate removes reference to 'amusing' restaurant after racist images in mural draw anger". the Guardian. August 4, 2020.
2. https://web.archive.org/web/20120626005002/http://www.tate.org.uk/about/our-work/collection/about-the-collection/works-in-the-fabric-of-tate-buildings/rex-whistler-expedition-in-pursuit-of-rare-meats
3. "Protesters Launch Petition to Remove Tate Britain's Racist Mural". August 5, 2020.
4. https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/the-expedition-in-pursuit-of-rare-meats-tate-museum-faces-heat-over-racist-mural-in-europe-s-most-amusing-room/storyCFc7w3ysDZEeGe4GfB5qAM.html
5. http://tdclassicist.blogspot.com/2012/09/rex-whistler-murals.html?m=1
6. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/aug/04/tate-removes-reference-to-amusing-restaurant-after-racist-images-in-mural-draw-anger