Campbell's Soup - Green Pea - This is not by me

by Andy Warhol

The work by Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup Green Pea is a limited edition screenprint on paper hand-signed by the artist. It was made in 1985. 

The subject of the work is the "Green Pea" version of the iconic Campbell's soup. Andy Warhol with this work has chosen an everyday commodity, easily recognizable by the American public, transforming it into the protagonist of his art. 

The concept behind Warhol's works is in fact the "democratization" of art, making it closer to the general public and mass society. This is why he chooses and reproduces subjects taken from the mass media, from consumer products such as Campbell's Soup, from the icons of American society of the time such as Elvis and the beautiful Marilyn.

This Is not by Me - Andy Warhol
The work is hand-signed on the back by Andy Warhol and it is signed "this is not by me, Andy Warhol".

In 1970 the well-known New York printing house SUNDAY B MORNING, founded by some of Warhol's friends, decided to launch a reprint for Europe of the first "MARILYN” series, which had just had an incredible international success.

Warhol, however, refuses to collaborate for that new series. Sunday B Morning doesn't give up and starts the production anyway, putting a stamp on the back with the words: "Published by Sunday B. Morning" and "Fill in your own signature".

Faced with this initiative, Warhol decides to sign some of these works on the back with the words "This is not by me, Andy Warhol": ironic reference to the authorship and authenticity of the work.

Thus was born the series This Is not by Me to which this work belong, in limited edition, not numbered and signed.