Essay About Campbells Soup Cans And Andy Warhol

Art History
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When analyzing artwork, one should not simply look at the picture at face value,
but rather look in depth at the meaning as to why depict that specific setting, colors, and
scene. The artist, Andy Warhol, is a unique artist. His artwork is anything but typical; he
often uses random objects and arranges them in a specific way to create a symbolic
meaning and calls it art. After studying his technique, I have found the meaning behind
the paintings, “Campbells Soup Cans” and “200 One Dollar Bills” by Andy Warhol.
The painting, “Campbells Soup Cans,” by Andy Warhol, was completed in 1962.
These 32 soup cans each are 20 inches by 16 inches and arranged in a 4×8 pattern (Fiero,
65). Many wondered why Warhol would choose to create such a bizarre display. Once
he stopped creating cartoon art, a friend named Muriel Latow came up with the idea to
create the 32 soup cans. French artist, Marcel Duchamp, said, “If you take a Campbell
Soup can and repeat it fifty times, you are not interested in the retinal image. What
interests you is the concept that wants to put fifty Campbell soup cans on a canvas”
(Fiero, 66). After the success of this artwork, Warhol created more and more variations
involving Campbells soup can such as, “Crushed Campbells Soup Can,” “Campbells
Soup with Can Opener,” and “Torn Campbells Soup Can.” Warhol became known as a
simplistic artist, but was highly respected (Fiero, 66).
Andy Warhols type of artwork is known as Pop Art. He created each individual
can of soup with synthetic polymer paint on canvas. Warhol knew that if he wanted to
make art from mass-produced objects, he would not be able to simply paint them. The
idea of using synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen creates the image of mass-production
in America because silkscreen is the commercial form of printmaking used in t-shirts
(Fiero, 66).
Warhols artwork symbolized mass production of items in America. Warhol
created this in response to the American culture that surrounds us. Americans completely
understand the idea of the mass-production and the idea that the United States always
wants to do things “bigger than life” and over the top. However, in Europe, many
Europeans look at the idea of this artwork differently. Many thought of it as a Marxist
satire on American capitalism or at least a Marxist critique of pop culture, but since
Warhol was not interested in politics, this was probably not the case. More likely, this
whole artwork may have been just an attempt to get attention and make his name more
famous.
I chose to research “Campbells Soup Cans,” by Andy Warhol because I
personally saw this painting in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. I
remember being very confused about this painting and I didnt understand how this was
art. Many people around me would laugh when they saw this painting, commenting, “I
could do this!” It seems like a simple idea, but I find it very interesting now that I
researched it that it might have represented mass production in the United States.
Andy Warhols “200 One Dollar Bills” was another odd display of art and was
also completed in 1962. This painting was a model painting of its time. This artwork has
10-dollar bills across by 20-dollar bills downwards. He created this at the same time as
he created the Campbells painting. The same friend, Muriel Latow, who told Warhol to
create the Campbell painting, told him to create this painting with the 200 one-dollar
bills. In New York, this artwork was sold for $43.8 Million (Fiero, 67). This style is
similar to the last artwork. It is considered Pop Art because it challenges the traditional
ways by mass-producing aspects of pop culture (in this case, money) while at the same
time, has aspects of fine art. This artwork is similar to the Campbells soup display in
that they both are trying to show capitalistic America. He shows that money is the all-
powerful. Rather than putting two one hundred dollar bills together to create a total of
$200, he chooses to create 200 bills to show the size and the degree to which capitalism
in America is a factor (Fiero, 67).
I chose this painting because it really shows a great comparison to the first
painting in the fact that many of the same items are used over and over to create an image
and make a point. When I saw this artwork originally online, I did not know what it
could symbolize or represent; however, after studying the life of Andy Warhol and
understanding the type of art that interests him, it became clear that this was a statement
of American capitalism. The interest people have in this artwork and the interesting style
allowed it to be sold for $43.8