Stock image for Campbell's Soup Cans II: Golden Miushroom 62 screenprint by Andy Warhol.
Campbell's Soup II: Golden Mushroom 62 screenprint by Andy Warhol in frame.
Andy Warhol Campbell's Soup Cans II: Golden Mushroom 62 screenprint framed and hanging on the wall next to a chair.
The stamped edition number on the back of the Campbell's Soup Cans II: Golden Mushroom 62 screenprint.
The complete Campbell's Soup II portfolio of ten screenprints hanging on the gallery wall above Warhol's Rolls Royce.
Size comparison image for Campbell's Soup II: Golden Mushroom 62.
Andy Warhol printing Campbells Soup Cans

Campbell’s Soup Cans II: Golden Mushroom 62

Catalog Title: Campbell's Soup Cans II: Golden Mushroom (FS II.62)
Year: 1969
Size: 35” x 23”
Medium: Portfolio of Ten Screenprints on Paper
Edition: Edition of 250 signed in ball-point pen and numbered with a rubber stamp on verso. There are 26 AP signed and lettered A - Z in ball-point pen on verso.
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Campbell’s Soup Cans II: Golden Mushroom 62 is a print by Andy Warhol included in his Campbell’s Soup Cans II portfolio from 1969. The ten prints in the series incorporate a variety of fonts and added illustrations, making them a far cry from Warhol’s original 32 Campbell’s Soup Cans. These variations attempt to imbue a more distinguishable identity upon the materially reproducible can. Moreover, the superficial alterations of the cans lent a new appeal to Campbell’s branding techniques for Warhol.  The iconic color scheme of the can remains, but the alterations give each print a unique sense that betrays the label’s practical origins. These features separate the portfolio from Campbell’s Soup Cans I, in which Warhol created exact replicas of the soups. The reproducibility of the soup label reached its conclusion with Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup II portfolio in 1969.

The metamorphosis of Warhol’s pop-art depiction of the Campbell’s cans occurred during an acceleration in studies of consumer behavior. In 1969, companies like Campbell’s began adding distinguishing qualities to their products in order to occupy new places in the consumer’s mind. Warhol’s silkscreen print-making efforts mirror the evolving conditions in commercial advertising during the 60’s. The repetition of a popular image combined with superficial alterations is a defining quality seen in prints made by Warhol.

Interpretations of Campbell’s Soup Cans I & II remained highly variable. Those taking critical stances on the prints made wavering conclusions. Either the prints made a mockery of consumerism and the commodification of art, or the prints themselves should be mocked for their austerity. Nonetheless, the prevailing attitudes toward a can of soup had never been more provocative. 

From his first published work in 1959 for Glamour magazine, to his 32 hand painted soup cans debut in 1962, Warhol never amassed more attention. The media wanted to understand the idiosyncratic elements of Warhol. In an interview, Warhol was asked “What is pop-art?” He responded: “Pop…is a short word for what people like at the time”. He added that the popularity of painting in a gallery depended on how much of the marble had worn off in front of the painting. 

Campbell’s Soup Cans II: Golden Mushroom 62 displays a western saloon style font and yellow banner over the signature golden seal. The Old Fashioned Vegetable Soup shares a similar wild west font. Warhol also realized the assimilation of western themes into popular culture. For example, the western movie star John Wayne was given the pop art treatment in Warhol’s Cowboys and Indians series in 1986. 

Amid the silkscreen prints by Warhol, the Campbell’s Soup Cans II portfolio bookends the most notable phases of his interest in the supermarket shelf. However, he would continue to use the screen printing method until the year of his death in 1987. The entry of Golden Mushroom 62 into the pop art world is imbued with qualities that go beyond the veneer of a supermarket display, yet went onto influence how one might gaze upon such a display today.

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