Andy Warhol (American, 1928 - 1987). "Campbell's Soup - Pepper Pot [Ferus Gallery]". Original color offset lithograph. 1962. Signed in pencil, lower right. Edition unknown, presumed very small. Slightly textured white wove paper. Full margins. Fine, strong impression with bright colors. Condition: folds as issued; a few handling creases, not in the image, else very good to fine. Literature/catalogue raisonne: cf. Feldman/Schellmann II.51. For the most extensive coverage of the history and importance of this poster and its exhibition, please see Kirk Varnedoe's essay 'Campbell's Soup Cans, 1962' in Gagosian Gallery's 'Ferus,' 2002, pp. 44-52. The poster is illustrated, full page, full color, on pg. 42. The exhibition painting upon which the poster is based is pictured on pg.129. Provenance: By repute, through John Altoon; Estate of a Private Collector, Pasadena, California. The importance of the Warhol exhibition at the Ferus Gallery and its related poster cannot be overemphasized. Moreover, the poster is exceedlingly rare. Although the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian has a total of 32 different Irving Blum and Ferus Gallery posters, it does not possess this poster. As Wikipedia states in its article on the Campbell's Soup Cans, "Warhol…showed the work on July 9th, 1962 in his first one-man gallery exhibition as a fine artist in the Ferus Gallery of Los Angeles, California. The exhibition marked the West Coast debut of pop art." We have not located any auction records or found any private sales of this object. Note the differences in our poster and the related painting to the later, true to life, screenprints of the soup cans. As Varnedoe states,"…Warhol added one central, repeated note of expediently pure abstraction in the solid gold disk that utterly ignores the fine black printing actually found on this area of the real label." Undoubtedly to be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonne of Warhol's non-commissioned posters by Paul Marechal. Image copyright © Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. TM Licensed by Campbell's Soup Co. All rights reserved. Overall size: 12 1/4 x 10 in. (311 x 254 mm). Image size: 8 7/8 x 5 1/16 in. (225 x 129 mm). [26480] |4000| {R100} (TL2) nzzz~rzzz