Andy WARHOL - Campbell's Soup: Consommé (FS II.52)

CAMPBELL’S SOUP I: CONSOMMÉ 52

Campbell’s Soup I: Consommé 52 is part of Warhol’s first Campbell’s Soup portfolios, Campbell’s Soup I. One of the reasons that Andy Warhol chose to feature Campbell’s soup was because of his fascination with consumer items and the claim that he had eaten Campbell’s Soup for lunch for most of his life. Throughout the 1960s, Warhol depicted familiar consumer items including Coca-Cola bottles. These Campbell’s Soup I prints are extremely dynamic with their very graphic imagery and simple color choices as the red stripe of the label is the main source of color in the image.

CAMPBELL’S SOUP I: CONSOMMÉ 52 AS PART OF ANDY WARHOL’S LARGER BODY OF WORK

One of Warhol’s most iconic portfolios, Campbell’s Soup I, is recognizable by even beginner Warhol enthusiasts. It was with these soup cans that Warhol started to become a household name. His screenprints of Campbell’s Soup cans first made their appearance six years earlier when he produced thirty-two canvases, each representing a different type of soup, which were displayed in the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles. When Warhol first showed the soup cans in California they created quite a stir. Even though Warhol is mostly connected to New York, he had an impact and connection with the art and artists in California in the early 60s. The semi-mechanized process he used to create his works is something that is characterized with Warhol. He continued to play with the imagery of the soup can by contorting and altering them, but it is the classic, simple version that continue to be the most popular and bring in new collectors. Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup series helped to usher in the Pop Art movement that endures today, renewed and rediscovered by artists such as Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons.