SizeComposition: 7 1/2 x 9" (19.1 x 22.8 cm); sheet (irreg.): 19 5/16 x 16 15/16" (49 x 43 cm)
DescriptionScreenprint on shopping bag with handles, Publisher: Bianchini Gallery, New York. Printer: Ben Birillo, New York. Edition: approx. 125.
The hallmark of this all-American holiday—and great for leftovers, too—the turkey was one of Pop art master Roy Lichtenstein’s trademark food images. He created this iconic Turkey Shopping Bag for Ben Birillo’s innovative American Supermarket exhibition at the Bianchini Gallery in 1964, which presented a variety of food-related art displayed alongside actual and plastic food items. Intended as advertisements for the exhibition, the Turkey Shopping Bags were sold for $12 each, along with editions of Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Can on Shopping Bag. The shopping bags were among the exhibition’s most popular items, and many visitors used them to carry their other purchases from the exhibition.
Another example from this edition is included in the collection of MoMA (Museum of Modern Art, New York).