Life Savers 353 by Andy Warhol is a screenprint from the artist’s Ads series, published in 1985. Specifically, the portfolio comprises ten popular advertisements from the 1950s through the 1980s. Warhol and his master printer Rupert Jasen Smith gave each brand the pop art treatment. The portfolio was commissioned and published by Ronald Feldman of Feldman Fine Arts, who worked with Warhol prolifically in the 1980s.
“Please do not lick this page!” Andy Warhol knew that Life Savers were tempting. Moreover, he also knew that he could make them look even more appealing on a creamy, Baker-Miller Pink background. Like the buoyancy devices from where they got their name, 18 Life Savers float, ready for the tasting. As a result, with a frolicsome handful of colors and delightfully chaotic gestural lines, Warhol almost begs the viewer to buy a pack of the hard candies.
Warhol evokes the charm of mid-century advertising with a nostalgic poster style that recalls his days as a 1950s commercial illustrator. In fact, he even revives one more detail from the era: the price. Along the bottom reads “still only 5¢!”—the cost of the candy at the time. The image itself comes from a 1969 Life Savers advertisement, created sixteen years before Warhol transformed it into this print.
It’s not just Life Savers that Warhol pays tribute to in this bright artwork– it’s his love for sugar. In his book, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol, the artist even remarked his favorite Life Saver was the peppermint flavor, which he looked forward to every time he had to fly. No doubt Life Savers 353 is a specimen of sweet, sweet nostalgia that really puts the POP in Pop Art.
Life Savers 353 by Andy Warhol as Part of His Larger Body of Work
Life Savers 353 is just one example of 10 screenprints in his Ads portfolio. These artworks depict the most memorable visual beacons of American commercial culture through the latter half of the 20th century. Putting his Warholian panache into play, the pop artist infused the appropriated imagery with an extra dose of glamour. These prints can also be seen as as a commentary on advertising media’s role in the contemporary hyper-fixation on consumption. In addition to Life Savers 353, Ads features other consumer brands such as Paramount, Mobil, Apple, Chanel, and Volkswagen. Warhol features celebrity endorsements with Van Heusen (Ronald Reagan), Blackgama (Judy Garland), The New Spirit (Donald Duck), and Rebel Without a Cause (James Dean).
Vintage Life Saver magazine advertisement, 1950s. Courtesy of Phillips.
