Lunch of Minions after Charles Clyde Ebbets

The historical realism of American history between the world wars fades beautifully before the colorful fantasy of contemporary animated cinema. Entitled “Lunch of Minions”, this work is an amusing parody of the famous photograph taken by Ebbets on a New York construction site. This unique adaptation transposes the legendary bravery of ironworkers into the burlesque and charming world of the famous yellow creatures.

The original photograph shows eleven workers calmly eating lunch on a steel girder suspended high above the foggy streets of New York. In this colorful oil parody, these ironworkers are replaced by eight mischievous Minions wearing their iconic denim overalls, black boots, and round safety goggles. Several of them wear white hard hats while playing, fighting, and sharing bananas or sandwiches in a chaotic and funny manner. The distant urban background of Manhattan has been completely replaced by the blue-tinted technological structures of an industrial laboratory from the films, creating an amusing and futuristic contrast with the original historical photograph.

The artist demonstrates remarkable technique in rendering the rough and metallic texture of the steel girder. Thanks to an excellent mastery of oil painting, he succeeds in giving volume and a unique shine to the characters while preserving the industrial and vertiginous atmosphere of the original masterpiece.