Campbell's Soup Cheddar Cheese

Here we have one of Andy Warhol's famous soup cans, this one showing the Cheddar Cheese variety from 1969. Warhol turned everyday grocery store items into art, and his Campbell's Soup series became one of the defining images of Pop Art. The idea was simple but bold: take something so ordinary that nobody thinks twice about it, and put it on a gallery wall. People were used to seeing paintings of grand subjects, so a plain soup can felt almost like a joke. But Warhol was completely serious about celebrating the products of American consumer culture.

What makes this particular print fun is the little yellow banner that reads "Great as a Sauce, Too!" It feels like an advertisement, which is exactly the point. Warhol started his career as a commercial illustrator drawing ads for shoes and other products, so he knew the language of selling things very well. He once said he ate Campbell's soup for lunch nearly every day for years, which gave the subject a personal touch. By repeating the same can design over and over with different flavors, he blurred the line between fine art and the supermarket shelf, asking us whether there is really any difference at all.