15 Minutes Of Fame Comes Early 11-Year-Old Californian Wins Campbell’s Soup Art Contest

Andy Warhol’s famous pop-art paintings of the classic red and white Campbell’s Soup can gave the company an unmatched presence around the world.

Now, some 33 years after his original work, Campbell Soup Co. hopes to find the “next” Warhol.

At a ceremony Wednesday at the Whitney Museum of Art, the company announced the winner of its “Art of Soup” contest, a coordinated search for an artist to fill Warhol’s shoes. Warhol died in 1987.

Artists were asked to give their own interpretations of the standard red and white can. Entries ranged from a sequined evening gown with Campbell’s Soup labels to a painting of the Mona Lisa holding a soup can.

Matthew Balestrieri, an 11-year-old from San Juan Bautista, Calif., was awarded the grand prize of $10,000. His work was based on ancient Egyptian art, with hieroglyphics and inscriptions used to tell the importance of Campbell’s Soup.

Balestrieri’s piece was chosen from more than 10,000 submissions.