Campbell's Soup Andy Warhol Analysis

The Pop Art movement in Britain and the United States took place in the 1950’s and 60’s; the movement mainly focused on mass media and mass production. The idea behind pop art was to make popular culture objects into high art that would be comparable with fine arts. Since, the pop art movement occurred after World War II, manufacturing, consumerism, advertising, comics, celebrities, mass media, and the economy all boomed. The art that was produced from this movement contained recognizable objects or figures that were of popular culture. The economy was on the rise post World War II, and consumers wanted to own popular items. Pop artist took the advantage of using consumer goods to highlight the affects of mass production. The use of bright

Andy Warhol in the 1950’s was previously an illustrator for advertisement; his background experience explains why his pop art artworks emphasized the mass media and consumerism. Warhol’s famous Campbell’s Soup Cans, 1962, is comprised of thirty-two canvases of Campbell’s soup. Each canvas is a different flavor of Campbell’s soup. When I look at all thirty-two canvases it feels as if I walked into a supermarket, and I’m deciding which flavor of Campbell’s soup I will choose from a fully stocked shelf. The large variety of flavors and the fully stocked shelf indicates the popularity of the food brand. If I were to remove one of the cans another Campbell’s soup can would take its place; the repetition of the soup cans ironically relate to assembly lines and manufacturing, since it was a big influence on pop art. Honestly, I have eaten many varieties of soups and Campbell’s is not one of the soups that I often eat; I don’t even know when the last time I ate Campbell’s soup. However, the brand name of Campbell’s Soup is very popular that it is impossible to forget the brand name of soup. Warhol’s use of the soups entices the viewers’ appetite to want to eat Campbell’s Soup; the thirty-two soup cans in a sense are a free advertisement for Campbell’s soup. Warhol is depicting popular culture food, but the cans are also reflective of photography food