Bittersweet (2021) Schilderij door Andra Daans

Bittersweet



From the series: I Saw You, You See Me #2
Bittersweet is inspired by an image on a chocolate cigar box lit "La Gloria Fabrica de Cigarros superiors" , which I found when I was searching for information about the Suriname cacao slavery history. I also came across the image of this little black boy sitting on a stair (photo c. beginning 1900). All pieces came together in this painting as a silent cry against modern cacao slavery.

Source Chocolate box: Dutch Chocolate company Droste & Co, Haarlem, Netherlands c. 1920

Who invented chocolate?
When chocolate first came on the scene in Europe, it was a luxury only the rich could enjoy. But in 1828, Dutch chemist Coenraad Johannes van Houten discovered a way to treat cacao beans with alkaline salts to make a powdered chocolate that was easier to mix with water.

The process became known as “Dutch processing” and the chocolate produced called cacao powder or “Dutch cocoa.”

Van Houten supposedly also invented the cocoa press, although some reports state his father invented the machine. The cocoa press separated cocoa butter from roasted cocoa beans to inexpensively and easily make cocoa powder, which was used to create a wide variety of delicious chocolate products.

Both Dutch processing and the chocolate press helped make chocolate affordable for everyone. It also opened the door for chocolate to be mass-produced.

Gradually, a tacit collaboration between candy makers and tobacco companies developed, who saw that the 'children's' candy helped to promote their own products. Around 1925 the collaboration reached a peak. Tobacco cigars / cigarettes became popular in the 'roaring twenties'.

Verwante thema's

ChildBlackBoy