Rare Andy Warhol cookbook headed to auction

Did you know Andy Warhol had written a cookbook? Apparently some of our members did, because the book, Wild Raspberries, appears on a handful of bookshelves in the EYB Library. Not very many copies of this cookbook exist, but you have a chance to buy one of them at an auction in NYC later this month.

The story behind the book is what you would expect from the eccentric artist. In 1959 – just before he rocketed to fame with his Campbell’s soup and Coca-Cola artwork – Warhol and socialite Suzie Frankfurt created this hilarious cookbook send-up. It was meant as a parody of the haute cuisine of the time, and featured recipes with tongue-in-cheek names like Omelet Greta Garbo, A & P Surprise, and Baked Hawaii. Warhol’s colorful drawings paired with Frankfurt’s ‘recipes’, and the calligraphy was penned by Warhol’s mother.

Only about 34 copies of the book were completed, and Warhol and Frankfurt gave away most of them to friends. Frankfurt described Wild Raspberries as “a funny cookbook for people who don’t cook”. If you have $30,000 to $50,000 USD to spare (auction house Bonham’s estimate of the selling price), this copy could be yours.