The FBI said Monday it is prepared to pay up to $25,000 for information regarding seven Andy Warhol paintings recently stolen from the Springfield Art Museum in Springfield, Missouri.
In a statement issued by the bureau’s office in Kansas City, Eric Jackson, special agent in charge, said the paintings were stolen after hours Thursday. The bureau is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of artwork and has issued a bulletin containing detailed descriptions of the seven pilfered paintings.
All seven Warhol pieces lifted from the museum are from a set of 10 that the artist created in 1968 as part of his series “Campbell’s Soup I.” The museum acquired them in 1985.
“For those of us who work at the museum and in Springfield’s art community, the theft of these iconic Warhol prints that the museum has had in our permanent collection for 30 years feels like the loss of a family member,” museum director Nick Nelson said. “We appreciate any assistance the public can provide to law enforcement to ensure the return of these treasured pieces of art.”
Each of the pieces measure 37 inches high by 24.5 inches wide and depict various cans of Campbell’s soup: beef, vegetable, tomato, onion green pea, chicken noodle and black bean.
“’Tomato Soup’ is the most expensive and sought-after” of the series, Gul Coskun of Coskun Fine Art in London said in an email to the News-Leader. “’Chicken Noodle’ is the second most desirable work.”
Ms. Coskun, who has been billed as Europe’s leading dealer in Andy Warhol works, told the newspaper that the complete series of 10 soup cans is valued at roughly $750,000. Whoever pulled off the heist left behind Warhol’s consommé, pepper pot and cream of mushroom paintings.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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