Andy Warhol Soup Cans Products
Andy Warhol's iconic Campell's Soup Can series is one of the most recognizable works of art in the world. When it was produced in 1962, it shook up the public and art establishment alike. No other art work exemplifies pop culture quite as dramatically as Warhol's funky soup can. That must be why it can be found on a number of products - it means we can all own a little bit of pop culture history. Of course we could just go and buy a can of Campbell's soup but that would seriously miss the point wouldn't it?
One of the interesting things about the W. soup can is that it shows how consumerism and art can feed on each other. Warhol instinctively knew this and it's the very reason he chose such a common, seemingly mundane, consumable object for his Pop Art series and of course, it's also the reason so many people responded to it. The soup can represented a kind of aha moment as we recognised the cultural significance of product as art. With the W. soup can, art captured consumerism and consumerism recaptured art....which is why we find the Warhol/Campbells soup image plastered all over consumer goods.
Warhol Soup Can Fridge Magnet
You know you've made it if you end up on a fridge magnet. Fridge magnets are a cheap way to own something beautiful, that you can look at at every day. Warhol would probably have been proud to have his art displayed on this humble household object, since he believed art should be interwined with everyday living.
Did you know fridge magnets are an offshoot of the auto tyre industry? Tyre manufacturers had mounds of rubber left over from the tyre making process and some inventive spark threw them all into a big vat where they were grinded and melted down to form a workable mass, which was then rolled through a big extrusion drum. This left them with a roll of firm, flexible rubber which could then be cut and used for a variety of purposes, among them fridge magnets.
Soup Can Art Poster
"Beauty is a sign of intelligence." ~Andy Warhol
I'm not sure what Andy was thinking of when he came up with that quote but it seems like a strange conclusion to draw. Especially when we consider that some of the most intelligent people throughout history have been somewhat less than ravishing - Stephen Hawkings, Bertrand Russell, Einstein - just to name a few.
What is beautiful though, is the green and pink 'Soup' poster shown at right. I love the colour combination of pink, green and red. A highly coloured series of soup can prints was produced in the early seventies as a kind of updated extension to his earlier soup art.
Andy Warhol Campbell's Soup Cans Keepsake Notecard Boxes
Send off a message on the back of a can of soup. each card contains the message :
"You need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you."
Below - Philosophy in a can of soup book and a can of soup bag
- Andy Warhol Soup Cans
In 1962 you could buy a work such as Small Torn Campbells Soup Can for a paltry 30 dollars, yet the same work was purchased recently for $11.7 million..a massive escalation in price
Insulated Soup Container
"An artist is somebody who produces things that people don't need to have."
~ Andy Warhol
The above quote may well be true but a sturdy, unbreakable 11 ounce insulated soup container is very handy just the same.
When was asked about why he chose to paint Campbell's soup cans, Andy Warhol said that it meant something to him personally: "Because I used to drink it. I used to have the same lunch every day, for twenty years, I guess, the same thing over and over again. Someone said my life has dominated me; I liked that idea".
Andy painted a variety of soup flavours but tomato was his most valued.
