Andy Warhol
Original “Souper Dress” 1966 Dress #2
41 x 28 in
$16,000
This iconic dress has never been hemmed or altered, and was never worn. This is the classic Andy Warhol "Souper Dress" that is in the permanent collection of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Andy Warhol Museum. This superb piece of Sixties conceptual art was also exhibited at a 2000 Whitney Museum exhibition focusing on Warhol's contribution to fashion, as well as many museum and gallery shows focusing on Art of the Sixties and Warhol's influence on fashion and popular culture. The image is reproduced in the monograph "The Warhol Look: Glamour, Style, Fashion," by Mark Francis, New York 1997. It is a silkscreen dress that was sold by Campbell's Soup as a nod to the throwaway, "carefree" culture of the 1960s. It was even featured in an episode of the TV program Antiques Roadshow. The Souper Dress is an early example of the convergence of fashion, high art, advertising and industry, and is well recognized as a collectors item. This A-line dress is printed with the red, black and white Campbell's Soup label. Many women in the Sixties who acquired these dresses took the instructions on the affixed label literally and disposed of these valuable dresses after wearing them. Thus, the Souper Dress is increasingly scarce and valuable. A must-have for serious Warhol fans and collectors, as well as designers and fashionistas. The Souper Dress is a superb conversation piece, and a marvelous piece of Pop Art history from the fabulous Sixties. The Souper Dress was originally sold folded and shipped in the mail to people who clipped out an ad in a Ladies Journal, wrote a check for $1.00 and mailed it to the Campbell's Soup Company. The irony of course is that it was created as a piece of ephemera that collectors today desperately seek to preserve. Provenance: Purchased in 2016 on 1st Dibs from re-seller.