When he first exhibited campbell s soup cans in 1962 the canvases were displayed together on shelves like products in a grocery aisle. With the unique candor he displayed in the best of his early pop art works he appropriates the curved lines and iconic graphic imagery of a tin of canned soup and re examines them in the context of their pure visual qualities. Not only was this a painting of a tin of canned soup but a piece of artwork with pure visual qualities to curved lines and iconic graphic imagery. Sotheby s prints multiples sale on 27 march includes a complete set of warhol s 1968 campbell s soup i f. The fascinating story behind andy warhol s soup cans on the show s opening night a rival dealer offered soup cans cheaper in his gallery warhol s own gallerist bought back the five he d sold including one from dennis hopper then offered to buy entire set from andy for just 3 000.

The first flavor the company introduced in 1897 was tomato. The story of the original work is the story of one of the defining creations of the pop art movement. Rockefeller bequest gift of mr. Each canvas 20 x 16 50 8 x 40 6 cm. At the time campbell s sold 32 soup varieties.

But soon the company was love bombing warhol with collegial letters and free soup by the crateful and in october 1964 commissioned a silkscreened tomato soup can picture from him. Burden abby aldrich rockefeller fund gift of nina and. Andy warhol s soup cans have become synonymous with the pop art movement and are responsible for propelling warhol into a celebrated career in fine art from his day job as a comic illustrator the motif made its debut in 1962 when warhol mounted his first solo show featuring 32 canvases painted with campbell s soup cans one for each flavor the company sold at the time. Warhol produced many varieties of soup when coming up with the idea but tomato was his most favored and cherished. Acrylic with metallic enamel paint on canvas 32 panels.

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Each one of warhol s 32 canvases corresponds to a different flavor. In many of the works including the original series warhol drastically simplified the gold medallion that appears on campbell s soup cans by replacing the paired allegorical figures with a flat yellow disk. In 1962 the year in which pop art was established as the latest major artistic movement andy warhol began his transition from hand painted to photo. The particular flavor matched his idea being the original and best seller. With campbell s soup can tomato andy warhol takes as his subject a ubiquitous staple food found in millions of american homes and turns it into high art.

The earliest soup can painting seems to be campbell s soup can tomato rice a 1961 ink tempera crayon and oil canvas. The earliest soup can painting seems to be campbell s soup can tomato rice a 1961 ink tempera crayon and oil canvas. Each one of warhol s 32 canvases corresponds to a different flavor. But soon the company was love bombing warhol with collegial letters and free soup by the crateful and in october 1964 commissioned a silkscreened tomato soup can picture from him. The first flavor the company introduced in 1897 was tomato.

With campbell s soup can tomato andy warhol takes as his subject a ubiquitous staple food found in millions of american homes and turns it into high art. When he first exhibited campbell s soup cans in 1962 the canvases were displayed together on shelves like products in a grocery aisle.