Campbell's Soup Cans

Listen to the whole recording. What is it about?Écoute tout l'enregistrement. De quoi parle-t-il ?

The recording describes
At the end, the speaker

The facts: listen again and choose.Les faits : écoute encore et choisis.

How many pictures are there in the 1962 work?
Did Warhol want the paintings to be shown in a particular order?
Which painting was the first one?
Where did the list of flavours come from?
What is the only difference between the images?
Why are all the pictures so similar?
What did Warhol think of popular culture?
Was the work a criticism of capitalism?

Reading between the lines: what can you understand, even if it is not said?Lire entre les lignes : que peut-on comprendre, même si ce n'est pas dit ?

« I want to be a machine. » Warhol means that
He enjoyed money and the company of stars like Elizabeth Taylor. So

Next: the text →

Listen and drag the missing words into the text.Écoute et fais glisser les mots manquants dans le texte.

Campbell's Soup Cans is a series of realist silk-screen paintings measuring 1ft 8ins by 1ft 4ins each. It belongs to the Pop Art movement, of which Warhol a pioneer. There are 32 different pictures in the 1962 work, which is not always displayed in the 8-by-4 rectangle shown in the MOMA. Indeed, Warhol any particular order. The first one, however, Tomato Soup, which was Campbell's original start to their soup line. Warhol each silk-screen painting as he it, from a list supplied by the brand. The bare red and white colour scheme thus follows that used by Campbell's. The only apparent difference between each image is that of the flavours. This a deliberate choice for Warhol, who to show the mechanical, automated aspect of the consumer age. We should not forget that he once : « I want to be a machine ». The pictures looked like something off a supermarket shelf. They seemed to lack any kind of social commentary. Warhol popular or « mass » culture; on the contrary, he it. He happy to make references to advertising, which the perfect symbol of the ordinary man's consumer culture. After all, this the consumer age, and Warhol to break away from abstract expressionism, which the major art movement since the war. It is hard to come to a definite opinion about what he . the work a criticism of capitalism, because of the idea that art unique, and , and therefore « without a soul »? Was he saying that mankind like this? But he often that he having money and the company of stars like Elizabeth Taylor, so why would he hate capitalism? Each spectator must make up his own mind.

Next: your turn →

Your turn (on a sheet of paper).À toi (sur une feuille).

« Did Warhol love or hate the consumer age? » On a sheet of paper, give your opinion in 10 to 12 lines.

Use the arguments of the recordings: he admired popular culture · « I want to be a machine » · all the cans look the same · he enjoyed money and stars · art « without a soul »…
Useful phrases: In my opinion… · On the one hand… on the other hand… · What is more… · However… · To conclude…

Then debate with a partner who has the opposite opinion!

The life of Andy Warhol · Where did Pop Art come from? · Campbell's Soup Cans · Warhol's road to fame · What do the soup cans mean? · Translations · Final test · The words of Pop Art · Back to Art & media