Campbell's Soup Cans

In 1962, Andy Warhol exhibited 32 paintings of Campbell's soup cans at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, each depicting a different flavor. The works sat on shelves like products in a grocery store. Critics weren't sure whether to take it seriously. One nearby gallery mocked the show by stacking actual soup cans in their window with a sign: "Get the real thing for 29 cents."

Warhol had eaten Campbell's soup for lunch nearly every day for twenty years. He chose the subject precisely because it was banal, ubiquitous, and devoid of traditional artistic meaning. The Pop Art pioneer rendered each can with commercial precision, silk-screening the iconic red and white labels in a style that erased any trace of the artist's hand.

The series forced a question that still resonates: what separates art from advertising? Warhol never gave a straight answer. The Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired the complete set in 1996 for million, displaying all 32 canvases in a grid that mirrors their original grocery-shelf presentation.