Campbell's Soup I (sometimes Campbell's Soup Cans I) is a work of art produced in 1968 by Andy Warhol as a derivative of his Campbell's Soup Cans series. 250 sets of these screenprints were made by the Salvatore Silkscreen Company in New York City.
It consists of ten prints each measuring 91.8 by 61.3 centimetres (36.1 in × 24.1 in).[1] This is one of two 10-piece sets of screenprints that Warhol produced 250 of (the other being Campbell's Soup Cans II the following year).[2] The set is viewed as Warhol's attempt to bring a "highly finished, mechanised look" to the series.[3] The sets were available for purchase at The Factory.[4] Warhol commented on his silkscreens saying "the reason I’m painting this way is that I want to be a machine, and I feel that whatever I do and do machine-like is what I want to do."[5]
On April 7, 2016, seven Campbell's Soup Cans prints were stolen from the Springfield Art Museum in Springfield, Missouri. The FBI announced a $25,000 reward for information about the stolen art pieces from the "Campbell's Soup I" set.[6] They were a part of 1 of 250 sets of 10 screen prints that Warhol had ordered in 1968, that had been donated to the museum in 1985 (by The Greenberg Gallery in St. Louis) and that were on display for the first time since 2006. Each of the screenprints had an estimated value of $30,000 ($38087 in 2023), according to Artnet author Blake Gopnik.[7] A National Public Radio source estimates that they generally sold for up to $45,000 ($57130 in 2023), but the tomato soup version could sell for $100,000 ($126955 in 2023). They were insured as a set and the insurance company paid $750,000 ($952163 in 2023) once the museum turned over the remaining three screenprints.[8]
In March 2018, Sotheby's sold a set for £849,000.[3]
On November 8, 2022, climate change protesters glued themselves to and vandalised the National Gallery of Australia's version of Campbell's Soup I without damage to the artworks (under glass) or arrests.[9] The protests were intended to direct attention to the issue of fossil fuel subsidies.[10]
