Andy Warhol
Old Fashion Vegetable, from Campbell's Soup II, 1969
Screenprint in colors, on smooth wove paper
I. 81 x 47.7 cm, S. 89 x 58.5 cm
67/250 (there were also 26 artist's proofs lettered A-Z)
Copyright The Artist
Old Fashion Vegetable, (1969) is part of Campbell’s Soup II by Andy Warhol, a continuation of his iconic exploration of everyday consumer products as art. In this screenprint, Warhol isolates the familiar Campbell’s soup can design and presents it with crisp lines, bold colour, and a flat graphic style that mirrors the look of mass-produced advertising.
Provenance
Christie’s Contemporary Edition featuring: Behind the Stars, Five Decades of Derriere L'Etoile Studios, 2026Acquired form the above by Princedale Modern
Literature
Feldman & Schellmann II.54
Within this series, Chicken N' Dumplings marks a transitional moment in Campbell's branding with the short-lived "Stout Hearted Soup" tagline. Only two prints in Campbell's Soup II series feature this banner, which carried a British inflection and suggested not just nourishment but also moral vigor and fortitude-qualities already out of step with the shifting culture of the late 1960s. Warhol preserved these ambitions, exposing their absurdity. The can's label design also includes two uniformed guards reminiscent of Buckingham Palace sentries, lending a veneer of regal authority and Old World gravitas. By juxtaposing canned soup with royal pageantry, Campbell's sought to market its product as both trustworthy and dignified. Warhol seizes on this incongruity, turning it into a critique of how consumer culture manufactures prestige. Chicken N' Dumplings thus functions both as a celebration of commercial design and as a sharp commentary on branding's power to manipulate cultural symbols, class aspiration, and national identity.