New England Clam Chowder Soup from the Campbell's Soup II series, 1969

Screenprint on wove paper. Very rare black stamp of the first edition, "published by Sunday B. Morning" and "Fill in your own signature ..." on the reverse. Published in 1969 by Sunday B. Morning, Brussels. Sheet size 89x 58.2 cm.

Provenance: Private Collection Brussels, Private Collection Europe

Note: Andy Warhol's soup cans are perhaps the most resonant symbols of 1960s Pop Art. This work from the Campbell's Soup II showcases Warhol's famous fixation on the mundane soup can. Warhol's irony is reinforced by the screenprint medium, which recalls the mechanized nature of a factory assembly line. Just as canned soup evacuates the personal from the culinary, the screenprint diminishes evidence of the artist's hand. In both instances, the ritual of the homemade is replaced by the machine. The sharp hues of these prints burns into the consciousness of the viewer in the mode of the television screen or magazine advertisement, collapsing the distinction between high art and mass media. Warhol's deadpan presentation of the soup can mimics the familiar visual language of the advertisement. Conceived during the 1960s at the height of consumer optimism, Warhol's Campbell's Soup II offers a transcendent image in the familiar language of kitsch. His soup cans are talismans of the 1960s American dream, and serve as emblems of our recent past. Andy Warhol once said Campbell's Soup Cans were his favorite creation. He said of Campbell's Tomato Soup, I used to drink it. I used to have the same lunch every day, for 20 years, I guess, the same thing over and over again. His earlier work in advertising inspired him, and the Campbell's Soup Cans in particular, symbolized mass-produced, print advertising. Important note: The original Sunday B. Morning editions from the 70s are noted and recognized in Andy Warhol Prints, Catalog Raisonne’ Book. Today, the black ink Sunday B. Morning prints are very rare, as many did not survive the test of time.

Verso remains of an old mount, otherwise very good condition.