Series · Andy Warhol

Campbell's Soup

Campbell's Soup

Campbell’s Soup by Andy Warhol

Rows of soup cans, each almost identical yet subtly different, sit against crisp white backgrounds. Their familiar red-and-white labels dominate the composition, with only the flavour changing from one print to the next. By isolating an everyday supermarket product and presenting it as fine art, Andy Warhol challenged long-held ideas about originality, value and artistic subject matter.

Although the imagery is deliberately straightforward, the Campbell’s Soup prints reward closer inspection. Differences in typography, label design and flavour become the defining features of each composition, encouraging collectors to consider ordinary commercial packaging with the same attention traditionally given to portraiture or landscape painting.

Few bodies of work have become so closely associated with a single artist. The Campbell’s Soup series established Warhol as the leading figure of Pop Art and continues to represent the movement’s fascination with mass production, advertising and American consumer culture.

Works in this series

Works In The Series

Campbell’s Soup I (1968)

Portfolio of 10 screenprints

  • Tomato
  • Chicken Noodle
  • Vegetable (Made with Beef Stock)
  • Onion (Made with Beef Stock)
  • Beef
  • Black Bean
  • Green Pea
  • Pepper Pot
  • Consommé (Beef)
  • Cream of Mushroom

Edition of 250, plus 26 Artist’s Proofs (A–Z). Published by Factory Additions.


Campbell’s Soup II (1969)

Another portfolio of 10 screenprints

  • Chicken ’N Dumplings
  • New England Clam Chowder
  • Scotch Broth
  • Oyster Stew
  • Beef Noodle
  • Cream of Celery
  • Chicken Gumbo
  • Vegetarian Vegetable
  • Hot Dog Bean
  • Split Pea

Again, edition of 250 with 26 APs (A–Z).



About The Series

The Campbell’s Soup story began in 1962, when Warhol exhibited 32 hand-painted Campbell’s Soup Cans, each depicting a different flavour available at the time. The exhibition, held at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, proved divisive but would become one of the defining moments in post-war American art.

Warhol later revisited the subject through printmaking, producing the Campbell’s Soup I portfolio in 1968 and Campbell’s Soup II the following year. Unlike the original paintings, these works embraced screenprinting, the mechanical process that became synonymous with his practice. The medium echoed the industrial methods used to manufacture the products themselves, reinforcing the connection between commercial production and artistic reproduction.

The soup can was not chosen at random. Warhol famously claimed to have eaten Campbell’s soup almost every day for many years, making it a genuinely familiar object rather than an ironic symbol. Its simple design, universal recognition and presence in American households made it an ideal vehicle for exploring consumerism and the growing influence of branding in everyday life. Even as his practice evolved, Warhol repeatedly returned to the soup can motif, incorporating it into later series including Reversals and Retrospectives.

Editions And Variations

The Campbell’s Soup print series consists of two separate portfolios, each containing 10 individual screenprints.

Campbell’s Soup I was published in 1968 by Factory Additions in editions of 250, with 26 artist’s proofs lettered A–Z. Each print was signed in ballpoint pen and stamp-numbered on the reverse. The complete portfolio was issued in its original presentation box with labelled dividers, and intact sets command a significant premium over individual prints.

Campbell’s Soup II, published in 1969, followed the same format, introducing ten additional soup varieties while maintaining the consistent composition and scale established by the first portfolio. Together, the portfolios document twenty distinct flavours, offering collectors the opportunity to acquire either individual works or complete sets.

Individual prints appear on the secondary market far more frequently than complete portfolios, making intact sets comparatively scarce. Condition, provenance and the presence of the original portfolio box can all have a meaningful impact on desirability and value.

Collecting Campbell’s Soup

The Campbell’s Soup prints sit at the foundation of Warhol’s market because they encapsulate the ideas that defined his career. They mark the point at which commercial imagery became accepted as a legitimate subject for fine art, influencing generations of artists and reshaping the direction of contemporary art.

Collectors often seek the series because it represents the origins of Pop Art in its purest form. While later Warhol portfolios explored celebrities, flowers and advertising campaigns, the soup cans remain the clearest expression of his fascination with repetition, branding and consumer culture.

Examples from the series are held by major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, while complete portfolios remain highly sought after by private collectors. Whether acquired individually or as a complete set, Campbell’s Soup prints continue to occupy a central position within the Warhol market and are considered essential works for many blue-chip Pop Art collections.

Notable Auction Results

Complete portfolios have consistently achieved some of the strongest prices within Warhol’s print market.

Record price

US$1,623,000 for a complete Campbell’s Soup I portfolio at Sotheby’s New York in May 2022. More recently, another complete set realised £1,026,800 at Phillips London in 2025, demonstrating continued international demand for intact portfolios. Individual prints also perform strongly at auction, particularly rarer flavours and examples with exceptional provenance or condition.

Explore Available Campbell’s Soup Prints

Optima Contemporary advises collectors seeking to buy or sell works from Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup series. Speak with our team for guidance on provenance, rarity, market positioning and current availability.