This new phase in Andy's career began in 1967. He edited in 250 copies numbered 1 to 250 and 26 artist's proofs numbered A to Z ten identical portraits of Marilyn in ten different colors, on 91 x 91 cm sheets.
The success is encouraging. He retrieved his masterpiece of minimalist figurative art from 1962 : Campbell's Soup images differing only by the label indicating the nature of the condensed. The original series included 32 paintings on canvas. Warhol selects ten of them in his 1968 Soups, printed in the same quantity as above on 89 x 59 cm sheets.
He still has much reserve! A new edition made in the following year offers ten other soups, this time with a few fancy graphics. The labelling is new but this operation is otherwise strictly identical to the previous edition.
A complete copy of each of these sets was sold by Christie's on 13 November 2014. The results including premium were $ 2.2M for Marilyn, $ 550K for Campbell's Soup I and $ 490K for Campbell's Soup II.
Another complete set of the 1968 Campbell's Soup I is estimated $ 400K for sale on May 17 in Los Angeles by Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA), lot 180. See it also on LiveAuctioneers bidding platform.