Coca-Cola (4)

Last updated

Coca-Cola (4), also known as Large Coca-Cola, is a pop art painting by Andy Warhol. He completed the painting in 1962 as a part of a wider collection of Coca-Cola themed paintings, including Coca-Cola (3) and Green Coca-Cola Bottles , also completed in the early to mid-1960s.

Contents

The painting is of a large black and white Coke bottle, made of acrylic, pencil and Letraset on canvas. Coca-Cola (4) is almost a foot taller than the 6-foot Coca-Cola (3). [1]

Ownership

Coca-Cola (4) was purchased nearly immediately after its creation by art patrons Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Hirsh of Beverly Hills. It was acquired from Irving Blum's Ferus Gallery, the site of Andy Warhol's first solo exhibition, the Campbell's Soup Can show in 1964.

It was given to Christie's in New York in 1983, and was then acquired by Sotheby's auction house. [2]

The painting sold for $35.36 million in 2010, surpassing its original estimate of $25 million. [3] Upon its purchase, Sotheby’s said Coca-Cola (4) “is a landmark in the artist’s creation of his pop art style." [4] The buyer of the painting was hedge fund manager Stephen A. Cohen. [5]

Coca-Cola art origins

Warhol's Coca-Cola art started in the 1950s with a drawing of a Coke bottle next to a pair of legs. His attention was turned to the pop art movement in the 60s, as well, with pop paintings based on comics and ads. [6] Warhol tore out Coca-Cola ads from magazines to use them in collages. [7] Coca-Cola (2) was pivotal in Warhol's style transition from hand-painted pieces to silkscreens, with a composition first sketched in black and gray, then hand painted, as a blend of pop abstraction. [6]

In Warhol's 1975 book, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol , he said, “You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it." [8]

Coca-Cola (4) differs from the first two in the series, Coca-Cola (1) and Coca-Cola (2) because it has less of a free-hand style, thanks to the use of Letraset letters for the patent notice located on the front of the bottle. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Warhol</span> American artist, film director, and producer (1928–1987)

Andy Warhol was an American visual artist, film director, producer, and leading figure in the pop art movement. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, advertising, and celebrity culture that flourished by the 1960s, and span a variety of media, including painting, silkscreening, photography, film, and sculpture. Some of his best-known works include the silkscreen paintings Campbell's Soup Cans (1962) and Marilyn Diptych (1962), the experimental films Empire (1964) and Chelsea Girls (1966), and the multimedia events known as the Exploding Plastic Inevitable (1966–67).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coca-Cola</span> Carbonated soft drink

Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings each day. Coca-Cola ranked No. 87 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. Based on Interbrand's "best global brand" study of 2020, Coca-Cola was the world's sixth most valuable brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cola</span> Carbonated soft drink

Cola is a carbonated soft drink flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, citrus oils, and other flavorings. Cola became popular worldwide after the American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, a trademarked brand, in 1886, which was imitated by other manufacturers. Most colas originally contained caffeine from the kola nut, leading to the drink's name, though other sources have since been used. The Pemberton cola drink also contained a coca plant extract. His non-alcoholic recipe was inspired by the coca wine of pharmacist Angelo Mariani, created in 1863.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)</span> 1971 single by The New Seekers

"I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" is a pop song that originated as "True Love and Apple Pie", by British hit songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, and sung by Susan Shirley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Coke</span> 1985 reformulation of Coca-Cola

New Coke was the unofficial name of a reformulation of the soft drink Coca-Cola, introduced by The Coca-Cola Company in April 1985. It was renamed Coke II in 1990 and discontinued in July 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cola wars</span> Soft drink marketing rivalry

The cola wars are the long-time rivalry between soft drink producers The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo, who have engaged in mutually-targeted marketing campaigns for the direct competition between each company's product lines, especially their flagship colas, Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Beginning in the late 1970s and into the 1980s, the competition escalated until it became known as the cola wars.

Dasani is an American brand of bottled water created by the Coca-Cola Company, launched in 1999. It is one of many brands of Coca-Cola bottled water sold around the world. The product is filtered and bottled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tab (drink)</span> Diet cola brand

Tab was a diet cola soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company, introduced in 1963 and discontinued in 2020. The company's first diet drink, Tab was popular among some people throughout the 1960s and 1970s, as an alternative to Coca-Cola. Several variations were made, including a number of fruit-flavored, root beer, and ginger ale versions. Caffeine-free and clear variations were released in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fresca</span> Branded diet citrus soft drink

Fresca is a grapefruit-flavored citrus soft drink created by The Coca-Cola Company. Borrowing the word Fresca from Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, it was introduced in the United States in 1966. Originally a bottled sugar-free diet soda, sugar sweetened versions were introduced in some markets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Coca-Cola Company</span> American multinational beverage corporation

The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The drink industry company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. The company's stock is listed on the NYSE and is part of the DJIA and the S&P 500 and S&P 100 indexes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MagiCan</span> Promotional Coca-Cola cans in 1990

MagiCans were special, mechanical cans used by The Coca-Cola Company in the United States of America as a part of their $100-million "Magic Summer '90" promotion. The MagiCan promotion began on May 7, 1990, and ended on May 31.

Tab Clear was a variation of Tab. It is Coca-Cola's contribution to the short-lived "clear cola" movement during the early 1990s. It was introduced in the United States on December 14, 1992, in the United Kingdom a month later and in Japan in March 1993 to initially positive results. Tab Clear was, however, discontinued after only a short time of marketing in 1994. Unlike most other "clear" soft drinks, Tab Clear contained caffeine and, according to the company, had the flavor of cola.

Since its invention by John Stith Pemberton in 1886, criticisms of Coca-Cola as a product, and of the business practices of The Coca-Cola Company have been significant. The Coca-Cola Company is the largest soft drink company in the world, distributing over 500 different products. Since the early 2000s, the criticism of the use of Coca-Cola products, as well as the company itself, escalated, with criticism leveled at the company over health effects, environmental issues, animal testing, economic business practices and employee issues. The Coca-Cola Company has been faced with multiple lawsuits concerning the various criticisms.

<i>Campbells Soup Cans</i> 1962 artwork by Andy Warhol

Campbell's Soup Cans is a work of art produced between November 1961 and March or April 1962 by American artist Andy Warhol. It consists of thirty-two canvases, each measuring 20 inches (51 cm) in height × 16 inches (41 cm) in width and each consisting of a painting of a Campbell's Soup can—one of each of the canned soup varieties the company offered at the time. The non-painterly works were Warhol's hand-painted depictions of printed imagery deriving from commercial products and popular culture and belong to the pop art movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bisleri</span> Indian bottled water company

Bisleri International is an Indian multinational company which is best known for the eponymous brand of bottled water. The company was started in the 1970s by Ramesh Chauhan, and sells bottled water and soft drinks.

<i>Green Coca-Cola Bottles</i> 1962 painting by Andy Warhol

Green Coca-Cola Bottles is a 1962 painting by Andy Warhol that depicts one hundred and twelve almost identical Coca-Cola bottles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sprite (drink)</span> Lemon-lime soft drink

Sprite is a clear, lemon and lime-flavored soft drink created by the Coca-Cola Company. Sprite comes in multiple flavors, including cranberry, cherry, grape, orange, tropical, ginger, and vanilla. Ice, peach, Berryclear remix, and newer versions of the drinks are artificially sweetened. Sprite was created to compete primarily against 7 Up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Cosby in advertising</span>

American comedian and actor Bill Cosby was a popular spokesperson for advertising from the 1960s – before his first starring television role – until the early 2000s. He started with White Owl cigars, and later endorsed the Jell-O frosty ice pop treats Pudding Pop, gelatin, Del Monte, Ford Motor Company, Coca-Cola, American Red Cross, Texas Instruments, E. F. Hutton & Co., Kodak, and the 1990 United States Census. As of 2002, Cosby held the record for being the longest-serving celebrity spokesperson for a product, through his work with Jell-O. In 2011, he won the President's Award for Contributions to Advertising from the Advertising Hall of Fame.

Coca-Cola 3 is a 1962 painting by Andy Warhol. He completed the painting in 1962 as a wider series on Coca-Cola paintings, which also included Green Coca-Cola Bottles and Coca-Cola (4). The painting and others in the series are considered founding paintings of the pop art movement.

3 Coke Bottles is a painting by Andy Warhol, which he completed in 1962.

References

  1. "Andy Warhol". Sotheby's.
  2. 1 2 "Andy Warhol". Sotheby's.
  3. "Andy Warhol piece sells for $35m". BBC News. 2010-11-10. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  4. "Andy Warhol Coke bottle sells for $35 million". LUXUO. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  5. "PHOTO: Warhol Coke Bottle Sells For Over $35 Million". HuffPost UK. 2010-11-10. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  6. 1 2 "Andy Warhol". The Andy Warhol Museum. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  7. Binlot, Ann. "Andy Warhol's Coca-Cola Art Highlighted In Exhibition Commemorating The Bottle's 100th Anniversary". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  8. "What Andy Warhol really thought about Coca-Cola | art | Agenda | Phaidon". www.phaidon.com. Retrieved 2022-04-21.