San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
rom his first sketches of Campbell’s Soup cans in 1961 through the development of his mechanical-looking, serial works, these images of Campbell’s Soup cans have become synonymous with Andy Warhol. As the art historian Kirk Varnedoe wrote, “[they are] now something of a visual sound bite for all Pop art, if not for a whole post-1960 attitude of hip irony."

Working at the Factory, his New York studio, Warhol was at the forefront of the Pop art movement. Pulling examples of the everyday and mundane and elevating them to the stature of “art” was an ironic, tongue-in-cheek send up of popular culture. His Campbell’s Soup images played upon a strong and easily identifiable image of American consumerism. Warhol showed that an item seen on any grocery store or pantry shelf could be rendered on canvas and might someday fetch millions at auction. The object, image, and evolution of the art itself is part of Warhol’s wry innovation.