Born
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1928, Andy Warhola moved
to New York City immediately after graduating from college
in 1949. Within a few months of being in New York, he established
himself as a very successful commercial artist and soon
changed his last name from Warhola to Warhol. After winning
numerous awards in the commercial world, Warhol began to
explore other ways of showing his work, beginning with a
series of paintings that were based on comic strips for
store window displays.
When
Warhol painted Campbell’s Soup Cans in 1962,
Campbell’s labels were very much a part of American life
and had looked the same for over fifty years. About Campbell's
soup, Warhol said "I used to drink it. I used to have
the same lunch everyday, for twenty years, I guess, the
same thing over and over again."
Although
Warhol had been well known as a commercial artist, Campbell’s
Soup Cans opened the door to what would become a famous
artistic career.
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What
do you think about the fact that Warhol decided to paint
something so ordinary?
-
In
your opinion do you think it matters that Campbell’s
soup is a well-known product? What if Warhol decided
to paint a soup can made by a small company?
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Do
you think it matters that Warhol decided to paint thirty-two
soup cans instead of just one or two? Why or why not?
Warhol tried to make his paintings of soup cans look the
same, much like the factory-made soup cans themselves. Each
soup can bears the name of a different kind of Campbell’s
soup, such as chicken noodle. He stamped each canvas with
an outline of a can and then painted the shapes and letters
in. This process results in smooth surfaces and blocks of
color and letters similar to advertisements, but they still
show some of Warhol’s brushstrokes.
The
rubber-stamp method Warhol used when painting soup cans
lead him to experiment with screenprinting, a printing process
that became a fundamental part of his work. For more information
about screenprinting visit What
is a Print?
- Do
you think the way in which Warhol made Campbell’s
Soup Cans matters? Why or why not?
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