Andy Warhol (1928-1987)

In 1966, Andy Warhol called upon Ben Birillo to issue a life-sized, limited edition of metal soup can sculptures in the likeness of his already-famous Campbell’s Soup Cans paintings. As a curator, Birillo had organized the groundbreaking and innovative American Supermarket show at the Bianchini Gallery in 1964, which featured Warhol among other Pop masters; as a collector, he was a significant benefactor of Warhol, having commissioned his Shot Marilyn series that same year.

The result was Campbell’s Soup Can (Chicken with Rice), an edition of approximately thirteen hand-lathe turned aluminum cans with silkscreened Campbell’s Soup Chicken labels. In addition to this grouping, Birillo generated two bronze examples, including the present work. Its significance in the context of the aluminum grouping is identified both by scarcity, and by weight: its heaviness is remarkable and unpredictable, an added emphasis on the posterity of Warhol’s influence on the contemporary art world.