July 9, 1962: Thirty-Two Cans on a Shelf

Not every turning point looks like one at the time.On July 9, 1962, a largely unknown artist named Andy Warhol opened his first solo painting exhibition at the Ferus Gallery in West Hollywood, California, displaying thirty-two canvases of Campbell's Soup cans on a shelf designed to mimic a supermarket aisle. A neighboring gallery owner stacked actual soup cans in his window and offered them cheaper, and critics dismissed the show outright. Ferus co-owner Irving Blum sold six of the thirty-two paintings before calling the buyers back, returning their money, and acquiring the entire series himself for $1,000 paid in installments because he believed the collection needed to stay together. By the end of 1962 the art world had reversed its verdict, and a symposium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art formally validated Pop Art as a legitimate artistic movement. The Campbell's Soup Cans paintings were transferred to the Museum of Modern Art in 1996 in a transaction valued at $15 million, and the framework Warhol built on that shelf still shapes how brands and serious artists collaborate today.This is bsnsHistory, the daily podcast where we find the turning points behind the headlines.Produced by bsnsBasics. Hosted by Ron Trucks. New episodes every Monday through Thursday.www.bsnsDAILYpodcasts.com