All about the Benjamins Century Vase

Gallery 388, European Art 1500-1850, third floor

Main Building

All about the Benjamins Century Vase

2016

Roberto Lugo (American, born 1981)

Here you will find Benjamin Franklin as you’ve never seen him before. Philadelphia-born artist Roberto Lugo riffs on the traditional representations of Franklin found throughout the city—ones that celebrate him as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. You can see one such stately portrayal of Franklin directly behind you, in gallery 384.Lugo places Franklin within a constellation of songs, symbols, and rappers’ names—ones that shaped his childhood and adult life. The artist also includes his own self-portrait on the other side of the vase, creating an imagined dialogue between himself and Franklin around the themes of money, history, violence, and success.

Gallery 388, European Art 1500-1850, third floor

Object Details

Title:

All about the Benjamins Century Vase

Date:

2016

Artist:

Roberto Lugo (American, born 1981)

Medium:

Porcelain, china paint, gold luster

Dimensions:

14 1/2 × 12 × 15 1/2 inches (36.8 × 30.5 × 39.4 cm)

Classification:

Containers

Credit Line:

Purchased with funds contributed by The Women's Committee and The Craft Show Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2016

Accession Number:

2016-140-1

Geography:

Made in The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America

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Gallery 388, European Art 1500-1850, third floor

Main Building

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