Campbell Cans Salute Warhol's Iconic Soup Art

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To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Andy Warhol's iconic works “32 Campbell’s Soup Cans,”  Campbell Soup is releasing four limited-edition cans of its condensed tomato soup with labels featuring vibrant, Warhol-like color combinations.

The cans, produced under license from The Andy Warhol Foundation, will be available exclusively at most U.S. Target locations, priced at $0.75, starting Sept. 2.

Campbell is also offering a “15 minutes of fame” app, on ArtofSoup.com, which enables users to turn their photos into a Warhol-inspired “work of art” that can be shared with friends. Some fans' photos will be featured as the cover photos on the Campbell's Condensed Facebook page.

In addition, Campbell is the “education sponsor” for The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition “Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years,” opening Sept. 18.

Warhol showed the original soup-can paintings -- 32 separate canvases, each depicting a variety of Campbell's soup, displayed side-by-side to mimic products on a grocery shelf -- at his first solo gallery exhibition in Los Angeles in 1962. The works helped launch Warhol's career and establish Pop Art as a major art movement in the United States. Asked why he painted Campbell's soup cans, Warhol said that he had eaten the soup every day for lunch for 20 years.

After some initial concerns about Warhol's choice of subject matter, Campbell Soup became a supporter of the artist, sending him cases of its tomato soup, commissioning two paintings, and establishing the Andy Warhol Scholarship Fund with the New York Art Academy. The company currently displays an original Warhol painting at its Camden, N.J. headquarters.

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10 comments on "Campbell Cans Salute Warhol's Iconic Soup Art ".

1. Robert Sawyer from Robert Sawyer
   

   commented on: September 4, 2012 at 9:45 a.m.
   I think the work/project cheapens the Man's legacy and diminishes the importance of the work. Our degradation continues.
2. Eric Alan from pomgrn8
   

   commented on: September 5, 2012 at 11:13 a.m.
   Genius. Delightful. Warhol's vision is complete. Thank you Target + Campbell's.
3. Robert Sawyer from Robert Sawyer
   

   commented on: September 5, 2012 at 12:09 p.m.
   I congratulate Mr. Alan on his use of irony. Yes, things have gone full circle. Would this have amused Mr. Warhol? Perhaps it would, however when I think of full circle, I think of Dante, and when I think of Dante, I think of his "Inferno." Art & Commerce, increasingly a kind of hell.
4. caryl hull from hull creative group, inc
   

   commented on: September 5, 2012 at 1:22 p.m.
   art eats commerce eats art...the dialogue continues... and makes me smile.
5. mohamed refaat from mem international clearing services
   

   commented on: September 5, 2012 at 3:58 p.m.
   this the first comement me on any braned i think this is power drink
6. mohamed refaat from mem international clearing services
   

   commented on: September 6, 2012 at 6:05 a.m.
   After some initial concerns about Warhol's choice of subject matter
7. Neil Cowan from Publicis Chemistry
   

   commented on: September 6, 2012 at 6:10 a.m.
   I think this is, sadly, a bit of an anachronism. Campbell's soup Warhol iconography was big in the 60s. Campbell's has tried a revival job before but their current partnership with US chain Target is on a grander scale this time. Is kitsch Warhol 'canography' really still a part of anyone's pop culture? I don't think so. Especially to thrusting Millennials.
8. Janet Clesse Hager from Tinfish Initiatives
   

   commented on: September 6, 2012 at 3:22 p.m.
   Goodness, aren't we pessimistic! A program like this, linked to the Met's exhibition, could introduce a whole new generation to Warhol's work. And if Target is after Baby Boomers, wouldn't this be a good way to draw them in? Certainly it's an anachronism. So was Old Spice, until they kickstarted things with a new ad campaign.
9. Duffy Johnson from RH Power & Assoc. Inc.
   

   commented on: September 6, 2012 at 4:04 p.m.
   Warhol would have loved this.
10. Wim Langedijk from Hallo Zee
    

    commented on: September 9, 2012 at 3:26 a.m.
    Clever.

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