Campbell's Soup Cans is a 32-painting work made in 1962 by Andy Warhol. It utilizes synthetic polymer paint on canvas.
The canvases each measure 50.8 by 40.6 cm and are displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Warhol first exhibited this work on July 9, 1962; this show marked the start of Pop Art on the United States' East Coast.
Analysis of the Work
1. Observation
Campbell's Soup Cans comprises 32 canvases realistically portraying Campbell's soup cans. The paintings are nearly identical and highly detailed: they are red and white on a white backdrop, with lettering in red.
A yellow circle is in the center of each can. Every can depicts a different variety. They are shown frontally, allowing the lid to be inferred. Minor variations are in the lettering of the flavor name, font size, and style. The work was displayed in four rows and eight columns.
2. Analysis
The number of canvases matches Campbell Soup Company's varieties sold. Warhol gave each canvas a distinct flavor using a Campbell's product list. The individual paintings were made via a semi-mechanical screen printing technique.
The dominant colors are red, white, and a touch of gold. This work draws from popular culture. It is representational, not abstract, depicting reality (figurative). Each can represents a different soup variety, but the presentation varies slightly. For example, the "Cheddar Cheese" can has a yellow banner with writing (fifth can in the last row from the left).
The 32 canvases lined up on a wall recall how cans are stocked on a shelf. The soup cans are ordered by their introduction to market.
It is unclear why Warhol painted soup cans, but he did eat soup with nearly every meal. He told an art critic, "I used to eat the same meal every day for 20 years." Evidently, Warhol only painted things important to him. As a money worshipper, he painted dollar bills.
Here Warhol uses a screen printing process that mechanically transfers an image onto canvas by reducing it to key features. This advertising industry technique allowed him to approach his ideal of objectivity: identical reproduction as perfection.
The technique permits endless identical reproduction. Printing errors were left visible by Warhol - shifts and ink shortages are noticeable. Warhol instituted the idea of painting's industrialization and mechanical reproduction with his Factory in 1963.
He first exhibited this work on July 9, 1962 at his inaugural show as an artist, at Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles. This marked the start of Pop Art on the United States' East Coast.
3. Description
The factual title, Campbell’s Soup Cans, just states the subject without commentary.
The style is realistic, as Warhol depicts the cans as they are (later versions modified the colors).
Red and white dominate the colors, with some gold for the medallion and “soup” lettering. Here, Warhol used the original Campbell's colors. The cans are on a white backdrop.
Each canvas measures 50.8 by 40.6 cm - larger than the actual can, giving it importance. An everyday food object is shown as art.
Screen printing allows identical image reproduction. Warhol generally chose a magazine photograph, then the size, colors, and number of reproductions.
He used acrylic paint, made by mixing pigments with synthetic resins. It was initially used for cars and buildings in the 1930s. In the 1960s, Liquitex made acrylics dilutable in water for artists. These techniques were then considered industrial, not artistic.
The genre is still life, a traditional genre that Warhol reinterpreted (nature morte in French).
Another famous version: 200 Campbell’s Soup Cans (1962) repeats the motif on one 163x254cm canvas.
4. Audience
Irving Blum first exhibited Campbell’s Soup Cans, lining them on a wall like products on a shelf. Some contemporary artists saw Warhol's work as commercial and banal. The show closed August 4, 1962, the day before Marilyn Monroe died.
e. Historical Context
In the 1960s, Warhol highlighted American society via its defining features: consumption and celebrity. Major events then included: the Vietnam War, China’s Cultural Revolution, the Prague Spring, the Algerian War, African decolonization, the Kennedy assassination, 1968’s May protests in France, the Woodstock festival, the Cuban Missile Crisis, rock and roll, the hippie movement, and the 1969 moon landing.
Conclusion
It is unclear why Warhol painted this series, but it changed art's conception. Paintings made with machines were previously unimaginable as art.
The soup can project had three main phases: first in 1962, second in 1965, and third in 1970. Through this work, Warhol surely aimed to establish himself in art, not convey any particular message. Along with his Marilyn Monroe and Mao series, Campbell’s Soup Cans is Warhol's most famous work.
© Gerard Van Weyenbergh
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