97

Nicole Eisenman

(b. 1965)

Chiquita Banana.

Oil on canvas, 1989.
Signed and dated verso.
52 x 61 in. (132.1 x 154.9 cm.)

  • Provenance:
    Gifted from the artist to current owner, private collection, New York.
  • Exhibited:
    Art Basel Miami, Lévy Gorvy Dayan, December 3-7, 2025.
  • Notes:
    Chiquita Banana, painted after Eisenman graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, is one of her rare early works focused on "Trademark characters". In this painting, the anthropomorphized animated banana, "Miss Chiquita" is no longer the subject of objectification, but reverses the gaze to lust after the circus strongman. Both characters, icons of American culture, have a history steeped in exploitation. 

    "Miss Chiquita" became the United Fruit Company's mascot in 1944 and was used to introduce Americans to, and convince them to consume, their relatively new import- bananas. Though United Fruit was based in Boston, "Miss Chiquita" was inspired by the Brazilian actress, singer, and dancer Carmen Miranda, and appropriated Miranda's signature style and accent. Over the years, United Fruit's commercials highlighted the exotic and erotic nature of "Miss Chiquita" and the banana's tropical origins to appeal to American consumers through colonial, gender, and ethnic stereotypes. In 1987, only a couple of years before Eisenman created Chiquita Banana, the fruit mascot was transformed into a flirtatious, curvy, golden-hued woman by cartoonist Oscar Grillo, which made this type of marketing more obvious. Eisenman's Tropicana, a 1994 oil on cardboard painting also comments on exploitation and the promotion of commodities by othering and appropriation; the orange subject in a grass skirt and a fruit-bowl headpiece lowers their gaze as they squeeze out their juice only to be sold for 10¢. Aside from commenting on commodification, in 1994 the viewer would also easily recall the public fall of Tropicana's spokeswoman Anita Bryant, and her vilification of LGBTQ rights.

    The circus strongman in Chiquita Banana is also a victim of exoticizing for promotion purposes. During the late 19th and early 20th century, strongmen were viewed as entertainers rather than athletes. The circuses where they often performed their feats of strength sought to romanticize their origin and set them apart from the average person as much as possible. To highlight their physiques, they wore tight garments, and in some cases a leopard print leotard, like the one the subject is wearing in Eisenman's painting. The leopard print leotard signaled to the public a primitive rawness that furthered the spectacle and marginalized the performer, especially during this period of colonialism and exploitation of the African continent.  Like "Miss Chiquita" the strongman was unduly sexualized and exoticized. As "Miss Chiquita" casts her lustful gaze on the strongman, the viewer is reminded that these emblematic characters, and the purposefully misappropriated cultural references they represent, are part of a perpetual chain of problematic marketing and public acceptance. 

    Eisenman's early work is characterized by eclecticism of style, subject, and references. Her early paintings often find dark humor in the sexual subtext behind iconic characters in mainstream American culture, and her commentary on gender and society are throughlines in her broader career. Trademark Convalescent Home, a 1994 work on paper, documents the aging of the most well-known mascots in American branding, including "Miss Chiquita". It begs the question of what happens to these characters when they fall into disuse as the public ages or calls into question the mascots' advertising tactics and complicated identities. 
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