Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes
April 6, 2021

Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding Andy Warhol. Some know the artist for his vibrant silk-screen paintings of various celebrities, for the artist’s filmography, for his commercial illustration, the artist’s time managing and producing the Velvet Underground, for his photography or for the artist sculpture work, such as Andy Warhol’s Brillo soap pad boxes. It seems that every day there is a new article or a different news headline for the man with many talents, explaining the meaning behind his works of art, his methods of creation and his overall impact on the art world. Andy Warhol’s art is seen as some of the most iconic artwork to ever exist, and now, some of the most expensive artwork in the world, which only seems to grow more and more expensive as time progresses. Andy Warhol could be seen as being one of the go-to artists for museums, private collectors as well as general audiences. This wasn’t always the case though, In 1964, Warhol created a series of sculptures that were clearly replicated versions of the Brillo soap pad boxes that were seen in supermarkets across the globe. The sculptures were hand-painted wooden boxes that the artist and his many assistants would screen-print directly onto to create the Brillo box aesthetic. Due to their general appeal and historic stature, the Brillo Box replicas can now be seen in various locations across the globe in museums such as The Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as being in some less visitable locations such as personal art collections, but these iconic pieces weren’t always the talk of the town.

Carrying his consumer-product imagery into the realm of sculpture, Warhol wished to create a makeshift factory assembly line that created virtually identical wooden versions of various supermarket cartons, which included his Brillo Boxes as well as other supermarket goods such as Kellogg’s corn flakes and Heinz ketchup cartons. The hand-painted wooden box sculptures showcased the famous white and blue Brillo design, with a few yellow versions also created, which likewise, sell rather well in the art world. Warhol first exhibited these sculptures in giant stacks that resembled a cramped grocery warehouse in the Stable Gallery in New York. These boxes were created to showcase the beauty in everyday objects, whilst also exhibiting the idea that art was all around us in everyday life and raised a question about what we, as the human race, value as being ‘real’ art and what we value as just a knock-off. Although this could be seen as one of the main bodies of work that cemented Warhol’s place in the Pop Art movement, as well as the rather famous Campbell soup cans, it didn’t seem to go down too well with the general public and a lot of the art critics of the time.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).

Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes brought up a variety of questions for the art world and the general public as they questioned the skill behind the creation, the idea of appropriation in the art world and within his work that ultimately copied an object that already existed. The audience questioned the idea of buying art when they could get an identical version of the artwork in the general supermarket, when in reality, Warhol was trying to get the world to understand that art was already surrounding them and why we would identify something that was in a gallery as art, but something that was on the shelf of a supermarket as just being a consumable object, or in the case of Warhol, how something that was identical to an object in the supermarket could even be considered as art. A quote from Eleanor Ward, an art dealer from The Stable Gallery, in 1995 stated that “[The boxes] were very difficult to sell. He (Andy Warhol) thought that everyone was going to buy them on sight, he really and truly did. We all had visions of people walking down Madison Avenue with these boxes under their arms, but we never saw them”, but sadly, this wasn’t the case with the Brillo Boxes. It is not until time passed that the public’s understanding of Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking, mystery and, unfortunately, his untimely death, that the artwork finally clicked within their minds and the idea behind the Brillo Boxes started to make sense and became an object that museums and private collectors needed to have within their collections.

Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)
Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)

Originally, Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes cost around two hundred dollars to purchase, which seemed a lot of money back then, but today, in the modern world, the boxes are frequently being sold at auction for prices in the millions. In 2010, just over forty years after its creation, a yellow version of Warhol’s Brillo Box sold for three million dollars, $3,050,500 to be precise, at Christie’s Auction House in New York, showing that Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking and overall influence on the Pop Art movement eventually paid off, just like the artist thought it would.

But, fear not, although many of the Brillo boxes are selling for millions across the globe, some are still able to be seen in museums such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States of America and is frequently on tour having recently spent a period of time at the Tate Modern in London. Or, if you’re unable to see the Brillo Boxes at a location near you, then you are still able to take a virtual tour of the Andy Warhol exhibition from the Tate Modern in London last year with the link below.

Andy Warhol at Tate Modern – Exhibition Tour - https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/andy-warhol/exhibition-guide

Andy Warhol HBO
Andy Warhol HBO
Lewis Swan
06/04/2021
Artist Spotlight
Lewis Swan
Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes
Written by
Lewis Swan
Date Published
06/04/2021
Andy Warhol
Design
Pop Art
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding Andy Warhol. Some know the artist for his vibrant silk-screen paintings of various celebrities, for the artist’s filmography, for his commercial illustration, the artist’s time managing and producing the Velvet Underground, for his photography or for the artist sculpture work, such as Andy Warhol’s Brillo soap pad boxes. It seems that every day there is a new article or a different news headline for the man with many talents, explaining the meaning behind his works of art, his methods of creation and his overall impact on the art world. Andy Warhol’s art is seen as some of the most iconic artwork to ever exist, and now, some of the most expensive artwork in the world, which only seems to grow more and more expensive as time progresses. Andy Warhol could be seen as being one of the go-to artists for museums, private collectors as well as general audiences. This wasn’t always the case though, In 1964, Warhol created a series of sculptures that were clearly replicated versions of the Brillo soap pad boxes that were seen in supermarkets across the globe. The sculptures were hand-painted wooden boxes that the artist and his many assistants would screen-print directly onto to create the Brillo box aesthetic. Due to their general appeal and historic stature, the Brillo Box replicas can now be seen in various locations across the globe in museums such as The Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as being in some less visitable locations such as personal art collections, but these iconic pieces weren’t always the talk of the town.

Carrying his consumer-product imagery into the realm of sculpture, Warhol wished to create a makeshift factory assembly line that created virtually identical wooden versions of various supermarket cartons, which included his Brillo Boxes as well as other supermarket goods such as Kellogg’s corn flakes and Heinz ketchup cartons. The hand-painted wooden box sculptures showcased the famous white and blue Brillo design, with a few yellow versions also created, which likewise, sell rather well in the art world. Warhol first exhibited these sculptures in giant stacks that resembled a cramped grocery warehouse in the Stable Gallery in New York. These boxes were created to showcase the beauty in everyday objects, whilst also exhibiting the idea that art was all around us in everyday life and raised a question about what we, as the human race, value as being ‘real’ art and what we value as just a knock-off. Although this could be seen as one of the main bodies of work that cemented Warhol’s place in the Pop Art movement, as well as the rather famous Campbell soup cans, it didn’t seem to go down too well with the general public and a lot of the art critics of the time.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).

Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes brought up a variety of questions for the art world and the general public as they questioned the skill behind the creation, the idea of appropriation in the art world and within his work that ultimately copied an object that already existed. The audience questioned the idea of buying art when they could get an identical version of the artwork in the general supermarket, when in reality, Warhol was trying to get the world to understand that art was already surrounding them and why we would identify something that was in a gallery as art, but something that was on the shelf of a supermarket as just being a consumable object, or in the case of Warhol, how something that was identical to an object in the supermarket could even be considered as art. A quote from Eleanor Ward, an art dealer from The Stable Gallery, in 1995 stated that “[The boxes] were very difficult to sell. He (Andy Warhol) thought that everyone was going to buy them on sight, he really and truly did. We all had visions of people walking down Madison Avenue with these boxes under their arms, but we never saw them”, but sadly, this wasn’t the case with the Brillo Boxes. It is not until time passed that the public’s understanding of Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking, mystery and, unfortunately, his untimely death, that the artwork finally clicked within their minds and the idea behind the Brillo Boxes started to make sense and became an object that museums and private collectors needed to have within their collections.

Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)
Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)

Originally, Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes cost around two hundred dollars to purchase, which seemed a lot of money back then, but today, in the modern world, the boxes are frequently being sold at auction for prices in the millions. In 2010, just over forty years after its creation, a yellow version of Warhol’s Brillo Box sold for three million dollars, $3,050,500 to be precise, at Christie’s Auction House in New York, showing that Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking and overall influence on the Pop Art movement eventually paid off, just like the artist thought it would.

But, fear not, although many of the Brillo boxes are selling for millions across the globe, some are still able to be seen in museums such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States of America and is frequently on tour having recently spent a period of time at the Tate Modern in London. Or, if you’re unable to see the Brillo Boxes at a location near you, then you are still able to take a virtual tour of the Andy Warhol exhibition from the Tate Modern in London last year with the link below.

Andy Warhol at Tate Modern – Exhibition Tour - https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/andy-warhol/exhibition-guide

Andy Warhol HBO
Andy Warhol HBO
Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes
Artist Spotlight
Lewis Swan
Written by
Lewis Swan
Date Published
06/04/2021
Andy Warhol
Design
Pop Art
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding Andy Warhol. Some know the artist for his vibrant silk-screen paintings of various celebrities, for the artist’s filmography, for his commercial illustration, the artist’s time managing and producing the Velvet Underground, for his photography or for the artist sculpture work, such as Andy Warhol’s Brillo soap pad boxes. It seems that every day there is a new article or a different news headline for the man with many talents, explaining the meaning behind his works of art, his methods of creation and his overall impact on the art world. Andy Warhol’s art is seen as some of the most iconic artwork to ever exist, and now, some of the most expensive artwork in the world, which only seems to grow more and more expensive as time progresses. Andy Warhol could be seen as being one of the go-to artists for museums, private collectors as well as general audiences. This wasn’t always the case though, In 1964, Warhol created a series of sculptures that were clearly replicated versions of the Brillo soap pad boxes that were seen in supermarkets across the globe. The sculptures were hand-painted wooden boxes that the artist and his many assistants would screen-print directly onto to create the Brillo box aesthetic. Due to their general appeal and historic stature, the Brillo Box replicas can now be seen in various locations across the globe in museums such as The Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as being in some less visitable locations such as personal art collections, but these iconic pieces weren’t always the talk of the town.

Carrying his consumer-product imagery into the realm of sculpture, Warhol wished to create a makeshift factory assembly line that created virtually identical wooden versions of various supermarket cartons, which included his Brillo Boxes as well as other supermarket goods such as Kellogg’s corn flakes and Heinz ketchup cartons. The hand-painted wooden box sculptures showcased the famous white and blue Brillo design, with a few yellow versions also created, which likewise, sell rather well in the art world. Warhol first exhibited these sculptures in giant stacks that resembled a cramped grocery warehouse in the Stable Gallery in New York. These boxes were created to showcase the beauty in everyday objects, whilst also exhibiting the idea that art was all around us in everyday life and raised a question about what we, as the human race, value as being ‘real’ art and what we value as just a knock-off. Although this could be seen as one of the main bodies of work that cemented Warhol’s place in the Pop Art movement, as well as the rather famous Campbell soup cans, it didn’t seem to go down too well with the general public and a lot of the art critics of the time.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).

Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes brought up a variety of questions for the art world and the general public as they questioned the skill behind the creation, the idea of appropriation in the art world and within his work that ultimately copied an object that already existed. The audience questioned the idea of buying art when they could get an identical version of the artwork in the general supermarket, when in reality, Warhol was trying to get the world to understand that art was already surrounding them and why we would identify something that was in a gallery as art, but something that was on the shelf of a supermarket as just being a consumable object, or in the case of Warhol, how something that was identical to an object in the supermarket could even be considered as art. A quote from Eleanor Ward, an art dealer from The Stable Gallery, in 1995 stated that “[The boxes] were very difficult to sell. He (Andy Warhol) thought that everyone was going to buy them on sight, he really and truly did. We all had visions of people walking down Madison Avenue with these boxes under their arms, but we never saw them”, but sadly, this wasn’t the case with the Brillo Boxes. It is not until time passed that the public’s understanding of Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking, mystery and, unfortunately, his untimely death, that the artwork finally clicked within their minds and the idea behind the Brillo Boxes started to make sense and became an object that museums and private collectors needed to have within their collections.

Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)
Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)

Originally, Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes cost around two hundred dollars to purchase, which seemed a lot of money back then, but today, in the modern world, the boxes are frequently being sold at auction for prices in the millions. In 2010, just over forty years after its creation, a yellow version of Warhol’s Brillo Box sold for three million dollars, $3,050,500 to be precise, at Christie’s Auction House in New York, showing that Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking and overall influence on the Pop Art movement eventually paid off, just like the artist thought it would.

But, fear not, although many of the Brillo boxes are selling for millions across the globe, some are still able to be seen in museums such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States of America and is frequently on tour having recently spent a period of time at the Tate Modern in London. Or, if you’re unable to see the Brillo Boxes at a location near you, then you are still able to take a virtual tour of the Andy Warhol exhibition from the Tate Modern in London last year with the link below.

Andy Warhol at Tate Modern – Exhibition Tour - https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/andy-warhol/exhibition-guide

Andy Warhol HBO
Andy Warhol HBO
Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
06/04/2021
Artist Spotlight
Lewis Swan
Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes
Written by
Lewis Swan
Date Published
06/04/2021
Andy Warhol
Design
Pop Art
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding Andy Warhol. Some know the artist for his vibrant silk-screen paintings of various celebrities, for the artist’s filmography, for his commercial illustration, the artist’s time managing and producing the Velvet Underground, for his photography or for the artist sculpture work, such as Andy Warhol’s Brillo soap pad boxes. It seems that every day there is a new article or a different news headline for the man with many talents, explaining the meaning behind his works of art, his methods of creation and his overall impact on the art world. Andy Warhol’s art is seen as some of the most iconic artwork to ever exist, and now, some of the most expensive artwork in the world, which only seems to grow more and more expensive as time progresses. Andy Warhol could be seen as being one of the go-to artists for museums, private collectors as well as general audiences. This wasn’t always the case though, In 1964, Warhol created a series of sculptures that were clearly replicated versions of the Brillo soap pad boxes that were seen in supermarkets across the globe. The sculptures were hand-painted wooden boxes that the artist and his many assistants would screen-print directly onto to create the Brillo box aesthetic. Due to their general appeal and historic stature, the Brillo Box replicas can now be seen in various locations across the globe in museums such as The Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as being in some less visitable locations such as personal art collections, but these iconic pieces weren’t always the talk of the town.

Carrying his consumer-product imagery into the realm of sculpture, Warhol wished to create a makeshift factory assembly line that created virtually identical wooden versions of various supermarket cartons, which included his Brillo Boxes as well as other supermarket goods such as Kellogg’s corn flakes and Heinz ketchup cartons. The hand-painted wooden box sculptures showcased the famous white and blue Brillo design, with a few yellow versions also created, which likewise, sell rather well in the art world. Warhol first exhibited these sculptures in giant stacks that resembled a cramped grocery warehouse in the Stable Gallery in New York. These boxes were created to showcase the beauty in everyday objects, whilst also exhibiting the idea that art was all around us in everyday life and raised a question about what we, as the human race, value as being ‘real’ art and what we value as just a knock-off. Although this could be seen as one of the main bodies of work that cemented Warhol’s place in the Pop Art movement, as well as the rather famous Campbell soup cans, it didn’t seem to go down too well with the general public and a lot of the art critics of the time.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).

Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes brought up a variety of questions for the art world and the general public as they questioned the skill behind the creation, the idea of appropriation in the art world and within his work that ultimately copied an object that already existed. The audience questioned the idea of buying art when they could get an identical version of the artwork in the general supermarket, when in reality, Warhol was trying to get the world to understand that art was already surrounding them and why we would identify something that was in a gallery as art, but something that was on the shelf of a supermarket as just being a consumable object, or in the case of Warhol, how something that was identical to an object in the supermarket could even be considered as art. A quote from Eleanor Ward, an art dealer from The Stable Gallery, in 1995 stated that “[The boxes] were very difficult to sell. He (Andy Warhol) thought that everyone was going to buy them on sight, he really and truly did. We all had visions of people walking down Madison Avenue with these boxes under their arms, but we never saw them”, but sadly, this wasn’t the case with the Brillo Boxes. It is not until time passed that the public’s understanding of Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking, mystery and, unfortunately, his untimely death, that the artwork finally clicked within their minds and the idea behind the Brillo Boxes started to make sense and became an object that museums and private collectors needed to have within their collections.

Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)
Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)

Originally, Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes cost around two hundred dollars to purchase, which seemed a lot of money back then, but today, in the modern world, the boxes are frequently being sold at auction for prices in the millions. In 2010, just over forty years after its creation, a yellow version of Warhol’s Brillo Box sold for three million dollars, $3,050,500 to be precise, at Christie’s Auction House in New York, showing that Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking and overall influence on the Pop Art movement eventually paid off, just like the artist thought it would.

But, fear not, although many of the Brillo boxes are selling for millions across the globe, some are still able to be seen in museums such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States of America and is frequently on tour having recently spent a period of time at the Tate Modern in London. Or, if you’re unable to see the Brillo Boxes at a location near you, then you are still able to take a virtual tour of the Andy Warhol exhibition from the Tate Modern in London last year with the link below.

Andy Warhol at Tate Modern – Exhibition Tour - https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/andy-warhol/exhibition-guide

Andy Warhol HBO
Andy Warhol HBO
Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
06/04/2021
Artist Spotlight
Lewis Swan
Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes
Written by
Lewis Swan
Date Published
06/04/2021
Andy Warhol
Design
Pop Art
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding Andy Warhol. Some know the artist for his vibrant silk-screen paintings of various celebrities, for the artist’s filmography, for his commercial illustration, the artist’s time managing and producing the Velvet Underground, for his photography or for the artist sculpture work, such as Andy Warhol’s Brillo soap pad boxes. It seems that every day there is a new article or a different news headline for the man with many talents, explaining the meaning behind his works of art, his methods of creation and his overall impact on the art world. Andy Warhol’s art is seen as some of the most iconic artwork to ever exist, and now, some of the most expensive artwork in the world, which only seems to grow more and more expensive as time progresses. Andy Warhol could be seen as being one of the go-to artists for museums, private collectors as well as general audiences. This wasn’t always the case though, In 1964, Warhol created a series of sculptures that were clearly replicated versions of the Brillo soap pad boxes that were seen in supermarkets across the globe. The sculptures were hand-painted wooden boxes that the artist and his many assistants would screen-print directly onto to create the Brillo box aesthetic. Due to their general appeal and historic stature, the Brillo Box replicas can now be seen in various locations across the globe in museums such as The Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as being in some less visitable locations such as personal art collections, but these iconic pieces weren’t always the talk of the town.

Carrying his consumer-product imagery into the realm of sculpture, Warhol wished to create a makeshift factory assembly line that created virtually identical wooden versions of various supermarket cartons, which included his Brillo Boxes as well as other supermarket goods such as Kellogg’s corn flakes and Heinz ketchup cartons. The hand-painted wooden box sculptures showcased the famous white and blue Brillo design, with a few yellow versions also created, which likewise, sell rather well in the art world. Warhol first exhibited these sculptures in giant stacks that resembled a cramped grocery warehouse in the Stable Gallery in New York. These boxes were created to showcase the beauty in everyday objects, whilst also exhibiting the idea that art was all around us in everyday life and raised a question about what we, as the human race, value as being ‘real’ art and what we value as just a knock-off. Although this could be seen as one of the main bodies of work that cemented Warhol’s place in the Pop Art movement, as well as the rather famous Campbell soup cans, it didn’t seem to go down too well with the general public and a lot of the art critics of the time.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).

Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes brought up a variety of questions for the art world and the general public as they questioned the skill behind the creation, the idea of appropriation in the art world and within his work that ultimately copied an object that already existed. The audience questioned the idea of buying art when they could get an identical version of the artwork in the general supermarket, when in reality, Warhol was trying to get the world to understand that art was already surrounding them and why we would identify something that was in a gallery as art, but something that was on the shelf of a supermarket as just being a consumable object, or in the case of Warhol, how something that was identical to an object in the supermarket could even be considered as art. A quote from Eleanor Ward, an art dealer from The Stable Gallery, in 1995 stated that “[The boxes] were very difficult to sell. He (Andy Warhol) thought that everyone was going to buy them on sight, he really and truly did. We all had visions of people walking down Madison Avenue with these boxes under their arms, but we never saw them”, but sadly, this wasn’t the case with the Brillo Boxes. It is not until time passed that the public’s understanding of Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking, mystery and, unfortunately, his untimely death, that the artwork finally clicked within their minds and the idea behind the Brillo Boxes started to make sense and became an object that museums and private collectors needed to have within their collections.

Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)
Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)

Originally, Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes cost around two hundred dollars to purchase, which seemed a lot of money back then, but today, in the modern world, the boxes are frequently being sold at auction for prices in the millions. In 2010, just over forty years after its creation, a yellow version of Warhol’s Brillo Box sold for three million dollars, $3,050,500 to be precise, at Christie’s Auction House in New York, showing that Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking and overall influence on the Pop Art movement eventually paid off, just like the artist thought it would.

But, fear not, although many of the Brillo boxes are selling for millions across the globe, some are still able to be seen in museums such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States of America and is frequently on tour having recently spent a period of time at the Tate Modern in London. Or, if you’re unable to see the Brillo Boxes at a location near you, then you are still able to take a virtual tour of the Andy Warhol exhibition from the Tate Modern in London last year with the link below.

Andy Warhol at Tate Modern – Exhibition Tour - https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/andy-warhol/exhibition-guide

Andy Warhol HBO
Andy Warhol HBO
Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
06/04/2021
Artist Spotlight
Lewis Swan
Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes
Written by
Lewis Swan
Date Published
06/04/2021
Andy Warhol
Design
Pop Art
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding Andy Warhol. Some know the artist for his vibrant silk-screen paintings of various celebrities, for the artist’s filmography, for his commercial illustration, the artist’s time managing and producing the Velvet Underground, for his photography or for the artist sculpture work, such as Andy Warhol’s Brillo soap pad boxes. It seems that every day there is a new article or a different news headline for the man with many talents, explaining the meaning behind his works of art, his methods of creation and his overall impact on the art world. Andy Warhol’s art is seen as some of the most iconic artwork to ever exist, and now, some of the most expensive artwork in the world, which only seems to grow more and more expensive as time progresses. Andy Warhol could be seen as being one of the go-to artists for museums, private collectors as well as general audiences. This wasn’t always the case though, In 1964, Warhol created a series of sculptures that were clearly replicated versions of the Brillo soap pad boxes that were seen in supermarkets across the globe. The sculptures were hand-painted wooden boxes that the artist and his many assistants would screen-print directly onto to create the Brillo box aesthetic. Due to their general appeal and historic stature, the Brillo Box replicas can now be seen in various locations across the globe in museums such as The Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as being in some less visitable locations such as personal art collections, but these iconic pieces weren’t always the talk of the town.

Carrying his consumer-product imagery into the realm of sculpture, Warhol wished to create a makeshift factory assembly line that created virtually identical wooden versions of various supermarket cartons, which included his Brillo Boxes as well as other supermarket goods such as Kellogg’s corn flakes and Heinz ketchup cartons. The hand-painted wooden box sculptures showcased the famous white and blue Brillo design, with a few yellow versions also created, which likewise, sell rather well in the art world. Warhol first exhibited these sculptures in giant stacks that resembled a cramped grocery warehouse in the Stable Gallery in New York. These boxes were created to showcase the beauty in everyday objects, whilst also exhibiting the idea that art was all around us in everyday life and raised a question about what we, as the human race, value as being ‘real’ art and what we value as just a knock-off. Although this could be seen as one of the main bodies of work that cemented Warhol’s place in the Pop Art movement, as well as the rather famous Campbell soup cans, it didn’t seem to go down too well with the general public and a lot of the art critics of the time.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).

Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes brought up a variety of questions for the art world and the general public as they questioned the skill behind the creation, the idea of appropriation in the art world and within his work that ultimately copied an object that already existed. The audience questioned the idea of buying art when they could get an identical version of the artwork in the general supermarket, when in reality, Warhol was trying to get the world to understand that art was already surrounding them and why we would identify something that was in a gallery as art, but something that was on the shelf of a supermarket as just being a consumable object, or in the case of Warhol, how something that was identical to an object in the supermarket could even be considered as art. A quote from Eleanor Ward, an art dealer from The Stable Gallery, in 1995 stated that “[The boxes] were very difficult to sell. He (Andy Warhol) thought that everyone was going to buy them on sight, he really and truly did. We all had visions of people walking down Madison Avenue with these boxes under their arms, but we never saw them”, but sadly, this wasn’t the case with the Brillo Boxes. It is not until time passed that the public’s understanding of Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking, mystery and, unfortunately, his untimely death, that the artwork finally clicked within their minds and the idea behind the Brillo Boxes started to make sense and became an object that museums and private collectors needed to have within their collections.

Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)
Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)

Originally, Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes cost around two hundred dollars to purchase, which seemed a lot of money back then, but today, in the modern world, the boxes are frequently being sold at auction for prices in the millions. In 2010, just over forty years after its creation, a yellow version of Warhol’s Brillo Box sold for three million dollars, $3,050,500 to be precise, at Christie’s Auction House in New York, showing that Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking and overall influence on the Pop Art movement eventually paid off, just like the artist thought it would.

But, fear not, although many of the Brillo boxes are selling for millions across the globe, some are still able to be seen in museums such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States of America and is frequently on tour having recently spent a period of time at the Tate Modern in London. Or, if you’re unable to see the Brillo Boxes at a location near you, then you are still able to take a virtual tour of the Andy Warhol exhibition from the Tate Modern in London last year with the link below.

Andy Warhol at Tate Modern – Exhibition Tour - https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/andy-warhol/exhibition-guide

Andy Warhol HBO
Andy Warhol HBO
Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
Written by
Lewis Swan
Date Published
06/04/2021
Andy Warhol
Design
Pop Art
06/04/2021
Artist Spotlight
Lewis Swan
Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding Andy Warhol. Some know the artist for his vibrant silk-screen paintings of various celebrities, for the artist’s filmography, for his commercial illustration, the artist’s time managing and producing the Velvet Underground, for his photography or for the artist sculpture work, such as Andy Warhol’s Brillo soap pad boxes. It seems that every day there is a new article or a different news headline for the man with many talents, explaining the meaning behind his works of art, his methods of creation and his overall impact on the art world. Andy Warhol’s art is seen as some of the most iconic artwork to ever exist, and now, some of the most expensive artwork in the world, which only seems to grow more and more expensive as time progresses. Andy Warhol could be seen as being one of the go-to artists for museums, private collectors as well as general audiences. This wasn’t always the case though, In 1964, Warhol created a series of sculptures that were clearly replicated versions of the Brillo soap pad boxes that were seen in supermarkets across the globe. The sculptures were hand-painted wooden boxes that the artist and his many assistants would screen-print directly onto to create the Brillo box aesthetic. Due to their general appeal and historic stature, the Brillo Box replicas can now be seen in various locations across the globe in museums such as The Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as being in some less visitable locations such as personal art collections, but these iconic pieces weren’t always the talk of the town.

Carrying his consumer-product imagery into the realm of sculpture, Warhol wished to create a makeshift factory assembly line that created virtually identical wooden versions of various supermarket cartons, which included his Brillo Boxes as well as other supermarket goods such as Kellogg’s corn flakes and Heinz ketchup cartons. The hand-painted wooden box sculptures showcased the famous white and blue Brillo design, with a few yellow versions also created, which likewise, sell rather well in the art world. Warhol first exhibited these sculptures in giant stacks that resembled a cramped grocery warehouse in the Stable Gallery in New York. These boxes were created to showcase the beauty in everyday objects, whilst also exhibiting the idea that art was all around us in everyday life and raised a question about what we, as the human race, value as being ‘real’ art and what we value as just a knock-off. Although this could be seen as one of the main bodies of work that cemented Warhol’s place in the Pop Art movement, as well as the rather famous Campbell soup cans, it didn’t seem to go down too well with the general public and a lot of the art critics of the time.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).

Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes brought up a variety of questions for the art world and the general public as they questioned the skill behind the creation, the idea of appropriation in the art world and within his work that ultimately copied an object that already existed. The audience questioned the idea of buying art when they could get an identical version of the artwork in the general supermarket, when in reality, Warhol was trying to get the world to understand that art was already surrounding them and why we would identify something that was in a gallery as art, but something that was on the shelf of a supermarket as just being a consumable object, or in the case of Warhol, how something that was identical to an object in the supermarket could even be considered as art. A quote from Eleanor Ward, an art dealer from The Stable Gallery, in 1995 stated that “[The boxes] were very difficult to sell. He (Andy Warhol) thought that everyone was going to buy them on sight, he really and truly did. We all had visions of people walking down Madison Avenue with these boxes under their arms, but we never saw them”, but sadly, this wasn’t the case with the Brillo Boxes. It is not until time passed that the public’s understanding of Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking, mystery and, unfortunately, his untimely death, that the artwork finally clicked within their minds and the idea behind the Brillo Boxes started to make sense and became an object that museums and private collectors needed to have within their collections.

Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)
Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)

Originally, Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes cost around two hundred dollars to purchase, which seemed a lot of money back then, but today, in the modern world, the boxes are frequently being sold at auction for prices in the millions. In 2010, just over forty years after its creation, a yellow version of Warhol’s Brillo Box sold for three million dollars, $3,050,500 to be precise, at Christie’s Auction House in New York, showing that Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking and overall influence on the Pop Art movement eventually paid off, just like the artist thought it would.

But, fear not, although many of the Brillo boxes are selling for millions across the globe, some are still able to be seen in museums such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States of America and is frequently on tour having recently spent a period of time at the Tate Modern in London. Or, if you’re unable to see the Brillo Boxes at a location near you, then you are still able to take a virtual tour of the Andy Warhol exhibition from the Tate Modern in London last year with the link below.

Andy Warhol at Tate Modern – Exhibition Tour - https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/andy-warhol/exhibition-guide

Andy Warhol HBO
Andy Warhol HBO
Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes
06/04/2021
Artist Spotlight
Lewis Swan
Written by
Lewis Swan
Date Published
06/04/2021
Andy Warhol
Design
Pop Art
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding Andy Warhol. Some know the artist for his vibrant silk-screen paintings of various celebrities, for the artist’s filmography, for his commercial illustration, the artist’s time managing and producing the Velvet Underground, for his photography or for the artist sculpture work, such as Andy Warhol’s Brillo soap pad boxes. It seems that every day there is a new article or a different news headline for the man with many talents, explaining the meaning behind his works of art, his methods of creation and his overall impact on the art world. Andy Warhol’s art is seen as some of the most iconic artwork to ever exist, and now, some of the most expensive artwork in the world, which only seems to grow more and more expensive as time progresses. Andy Warhol could be seen as being one of the go-to artists for museums, private collectors as well as general audiences. This wasn’t always the case though, In 1964, Warhol created a series of sculptures that were clearly replicated versions of the Brillo soap pad boxes that were seen in supermarkets across the globe. The sculptures were hand-painted wooden boxes that the artist and his many assistants would screen-print directly onto to create the Brillo box aesthetic. Due to their general appeal and historic stature, the Brillo Box replicas can now be seen in various locations across the globe in museums such as The Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as being in some less visitable locations such as personal art collections, but these iconic pieces weren’t always the talk of the town.

Carrying his consumer-product imagery into the realm of sculpture, Warhol wished to create a makeshift factory assembly line that created virtually identical wooden versions of various supermarket cartons, which included his Brillo Boxes as well as other supermarket goods such as Kellogg’s corn flakes and Heinz ketchup cartons. The hand-painted wooden box sculptures showcased the famous white and blue Brillo design, with a few yellow versions also created, which likewise, sell rather well in the art world. Warhol first exhibited these sculptures in giant stacks that resembled a cramped grocery warehouse in the Stable Gallery in New York. These boxes were created to showcase the beauty in everyday objects, whilst also exhibiting the idea that art was all around us in everyday life and raised a question about what we, as the human race, value as being ‘real’ art and what we value as just a knock-off. Although this could be seen as one of the main bodies of work that cemented Warhol’s place in the Pop Art movement, as well as the rather famous Campbell soup cans, it didn’t seem to go down too well with the general public and a lot of the art critics of the time.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).

Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes brought up a variety of questions for the art world and the general public as they questioned the skill behind the creation, the idea of appropriation in the art world and within his work that ultimately copied an object that already existed. The audience questioned the idea of buying art when they could get an identical version of the artwork in the general supermarket, when in reality, Warhol was trying to get the world to understand that art was already surrounding them and why we would identify something that was in a gallery as art, but something that was on the shelf of a supermarket as just being a consumable object, or in the case of Warhol, how something that was identical to an object in the supermarket could even be considered as art. A quote from Eleanor Ward, an art dealer from The Stable Gallery, in 1995 stated that “[The boxes] were very difficult to sell. He (Andy Warhol) thought that everyone was going to buy them on sight, he really and truly did. We all had visions of people walking down Madison Avenue with these boxes under their arms, but we never saw them”, but sadly, this wasn’t the case with the Brillo Boxes. It is not until time passed that the public’s understanding of Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking, mystery and, unfortunately, his untimely death, that the artwork finally clicked within their minds and the idea behind the Brillo Boxes started to make sense and became an object that museums and private collectors needed to have within their collections.

Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)
Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)

Originally, Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes cost around two hundred dollars to purchase, which seemed a lot of money back then, but today, in the modern world, the boxes are frequently being sold at auction for prices in the millions. In 2010, just over forty years after its creation, a yellow version of Warhol’s Brillo Box sold for three million dollars, $3,050,500 to be precise, at Christie’s Auction House in New York, showing that Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking and overall influence on the Pop Art movement eventually paid off, just like the artist thought it would.

But, fear not, although many of the Brillo boxes are selling for millions across the globe, some are still able to be seen in museums such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States of America and is frequently on tour having recently spent a period of time at the Tate Modern in London. Or, if you’re unable to see the Brillo Boxes at a location near you, then you are still able to take a virtual tour of the Andy Warhol exhibition from the Tate Modern in London last year with the link below.

Andy Warhol at Tate Modern – Exhibition Tour - https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/andy-warhol/exhibition-guide

Andy Warhol HBO
Andy Warhol HBO
Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes
Written by
Lewis Swan
Date Published
06/04/2021
06/04/2021
Artist Spotlight
Lewis Swan
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding Andy Warhol. Some know the artist for his vibrant silk-screen paintings of various celebrities, for the artist’s filmography, for his commercial illustration, the artist’s time managing and producing the Velvet Underground, for his photography or for the artist sculpture work, such as Andy Warhol’s Brillo soap pad boxes. It seems that every day there is a new article or a different news headline for the man with many talents, explaining the meaning behind his works of art, his methods of creation and his overall impact on the art world. Andy Warhol’s art is seen as some of the most iconic artwork to ever exist, and now, some of the most expensive artwork in the world, which only seems to grow more and more expensive as time progresses. Andy Warhol could be seen as being one of the go-to artists for museums, private collectors as well as general audiences. This wasn’t always the case though, In 1964, Warhol created a series of sculptures that were clearly replicated versions of the Brillo soap pad boxes that were seen in supermarkets across the globe. The sculptures were hand-painted wooden boxes that the artist and his many assistants would screen-print directly onto to create the Brillo box aesthetic. Due to their general appeal and historic stature, the Brillo Box replicas can now be seen in various locations across the globe in museums such as The Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as being in some less visitable locations such as personal art collections, but these iconic pieces weren’t always the talk of the town.

Carrying his consumer-product imagery into the realm of sculpture, Warhol wished to create a makeshift factory assembly line that created virtually identical wooden versions of various supermarket cartons, which included his Brillo Boxes as well as other supermarket goods such as Kellogg’s corn flakes and Heinz ketchup cartons. The hand-painted wooden box sculptures showcased the famous white and blue Brillo design, with a few yellow versions also created, which likewise, sell rather well in the art world. Warhol first exhibited these sculptures in giant stacks that resembled a cramped grocery warehouse in the Stable Gallery in New York. These boxes were created to showcase the beauty in everyday objects, whilst also exhibiting the idea that art was all around us in everyday life and raised a question about what we, as the human race, value as being ‘real’ art and what we value as just a knock-off. Although this could be seen as one of the main bodies of work that cemented Warhol’s place in the Pop Art movement, as well as the rather famous Campbell soup cans, it didn’t seem to go down too well with the general public and a lot of the art critics of the time.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).

Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes brought up a variety of questions for the art world and the general public as they questioned the skill behind the creation, the idea of appropriation in the art world and within his work that ultimately copied an object that already existed. The audience questioned the idea of buying art when they could get an identical version of the artwork in the general supermarket, when in reality, Warhol was trying to get the world to understand that art was already surrounding them and why we would identify something that was in a gallery as art, but something that was on the shelf of a supermarket as just being a consumable object, or in the case of Warhol, how something that was identical to an object in the supermarket could even be considered as art. A quote from Eleanor Ward, an art dealer from The Stable Gallery, in 1995 stated that “[The boxes] were very difficult to sell. He (Andy Warhol) thought that everyone was going to buy them on sight, he really and truly did. We all had visions of people walking down Madison Avenue with these boxes under their arms, but we never saw them”, but sadly, this wasn’t the case with the Brillo Boxes. It is not until time passed that the public’s understanding of Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking, mystery and, unfortunately, his untimely death, that the artwork finally clicked within their minds and the idea behind the Brillo Boxes started to make sense and became an object that museums and private collectors needed to have within their collections.

Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)
Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)

Originally, Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes cost around two hundred dollars to purchase, which seemed a lot of money back then, but today, in the modern world, the boxes are frequently being sold at auction for prices in the millions. In 2010, just over forty years after its creation, a yellow version of Warhol’s Brillo Box sold for three million dollars, $3,050,500 to be precise, at Christie’s Auction House in New York, showing that Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking and overall influence on the Pop Art movement eventually paid off, just like the artist thought it would.

But, fear not, although many of the Brillo boxes are selling for millions across the globe, some are still able to be seen in museums such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States of America and is frequently on tour having recently spent a period of time at the Tate Modern in London. Or, if you’re unable to see the Brillo Boxes at a location near you, then you are still able to take a virtual tour of the Andy Warhol exhibition from the Tate Modern in London last year with the link below.

Andy Warhol at Tate Modern – Exhibition Tour - https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/andy-warhol/exhibition-guide

Andy Warhol HBO
Andy Warhol HBO
Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes
Written by
Lewis Swan
Date Published
06/04/2021
Andy Warhol
Design
Pop Art
06/04/2021
Artist Spotlight
Lewis Swan
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding Andy Warhol. Some know the artist for his vibrant silk-screen paintings of various celebrities, for the artist’s filmography, for his commercial illustration, the artist’s time managing and producing the Velvet Underground, for his photography or for the artist sculpture work, such as Andy Warhol’s Brillo soap pad boxes. It seems that every day there is a new article or a different news headline for the man with many talents, explaining the meaning behind his works of art, his methods of creation and his overall impact on the art world. Andy Warhol’s art is seen as some of the most iconic artwork to ever exist, and now, some of the most expensive artwork in the world, which only seems to grow more and more expensive as time progresses. Andy Warhol could be seen as being one of the go-to artists for museums, private collectors as well as general audiences. This wasn’t always the case though, In 1964, Warhol created a series of sculptures that were clearly replicated versions of the Brillo soap pad boxes that were seen in supermarkets across the globe. The sculptures were hand-painted wooden boxes that the artist and his many assistants would screen-print directly onto to create the Brillo box aesthetic. Due to their general appeal and historic stature, the Brillo Box replicas can now be seen in various locations across the globe in museums such as The Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as being in some less visitable locations such as personal art collections, but these iconic pieces weren’t always the talk of the town.

Carrying his consumer-product imagery into the realm of sculpture, Warhol wished to create a makeshift factory assembly line that created virtually identical wooden versions of various supermarket cartons, which included his Brillo Boxes as well as other supermarket goods such as Kellogg’s corn flakes and Heinz ketchup cartons. The hand-painted wooden box sculptures showcased the famous white and blue Brillo design, with a few yellow versions also created, which likewise, sell rather well in the art world. Warhol first exhibited these sculptures in giant stacks that resembled a cramped grocery warehouse in the Stable Gallery in New York. These boxes were created to showcase the beauty in everyday objects, whilst also exhibiting the idea that art was all around us in everyday life and raised a question about what we, as the human race, value as being ‘real’ art and what we value as just a knock-off. Although this could be seen as one of the main bodies of work that cemented Warhol’s place in the Pop Art movement, as well as the rather famous Campbell soup cans, it didn’t seem to go down too well with the general public and a lot of the art critics of the time.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).

Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes brought up a variety of questions for the art world and the general public as they questioned the skill behind the creation, the idea of appropriation in the art world and within his work that ultimately copied an object that already existed. The audience questioned the idea of buying art when they could get an identical version of the artwork in the general supermarket, when in reality, Warhol was trying to get the world to understand that art was already surrounding them and why we would identify something that was in a gallery as art, but something that was on the shelf of a supermarket as just being a consumable object, or in the case of Warhol, how something that was identical to an object in the supermarket could even be considered as art. A quote from Eleanor Ward, an art dealer from The Stable Gallery, in 1995 stated that “[The boxes] were very difficult to sell. He (Andy Warhol) thought that everyone was going to buy them on sight, he really and truly did. We all had visions of people walking down Madison Avenue with these boxes under their arms, but we never saw them”, but sadly, this wasn’t the case with the Brillo Boxes. It is not until time passed that the public’s understanding of Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking, mystery and, unfortunately, his untimely death, that the artwork finally clicked within their minds and the idea behind the Brillo Boxes started to make sense and became an object that museums and private collectors needed to have within their collections.

Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)
Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)

Originally, Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes cost around two hundred dollars to purchase, which seemed a lot of money back then, but today, in the modern world, the boxes are frequently being sold at auction for prices in the millions. In 2010, just over forty years after its creation, a yellow version of Warhol’s Brillo Box sold for three million dollars, $3,050,500 to be precise, at Christie’s Auction House in New York, showing that Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking and overall influence on the Pop Art movement eventually paid off, just like the artist thought it would.

But, fear not, although many of the Brillo boxes are selling for millions across the globe, some are still able to be seen in museums such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States of America and is frequently on tour having recently spent a period of time at the Tate Modern in London. Or, if you’re unable to see the Brillo Boxes at a location near you, then you are still able to take a virtual tour of the Andy Warhol exhibition from the Tate Modern in London last year with the link below.

Andy Warhol at Tate Modern – Exhibition Tour - https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/andy-warhol/exhibition-guide

Andy Warhol HBO
Andy Warhol HBO
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06/04/2021
Artist Spotlight
Lewis Swan
Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol poses with his series of prints titled The Brillo Boxes at the Tate Gallery in London on February 15, 1971
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.
Andy Warhol at the opening of the 1968 exhibition at the Moderna Museet in front of 500 Brillo Boxes that arrived to the museum as flatpacks which had to be assembled.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding Andy Warhol. Some know the artist for his vibrant silk-screen paintings of various celebrities, for the artist’s filmography, for his commercial illustration, the artist’s time managing and producing the Velvet Underground, for his photography or for the artist sculpture work, such as Andy Warhol’s Brillo soap pad boxes. It seems that every day there is a new article or a different news headline for the man with many talents, explaining the meaning behind his works of art, his methods of creation and his overall impact on the art world. Andy Warhol’s art is seen as some of the most iconic artwork to ever exist, and now, some of the most expensive artwork in the world, which only seems to grow more and more expensive as time progresses. Andy Warhol could be seen as being one of the go-to artists for museums, private collectors as well as general audiences. This wasn’t always the case though, In 1964, Warhol created a series of sculptures that were clearly replicated versions of the Brillo soap pad boxes that were seen in supermarkets across the globe. The sculptures were hand-painted wooden boxes that the artist and his many assistants would screen-print directly onto to create the Brillo box aesthetic. Due to their general appeal and historic stature, the Brillo Box replicas can now be seen in various locations across the globe in museums such as The Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as being in some less visitable locations such as personal art collections, but these iconic pieces weren’t always the talk of the town.

Carrying his consumer-product imagery into the realm of sculpture, Warhol wished to create a makeshift factory assembly line that created virtually identical wooden versions of various supermarket cartons, which included his Brillo Boxes as well as other supermarket goods such as Kellogg’s corn flakes and Heinz ketchup cartons. The hand-painted wooden box sculptures showcased the famous white and blue Brillo design, with a few yellow versions also created, which likewise, sell rather well in the art world. Warhol first exhibited these sculptures in giant stacks that resembled a cramped grocery warehouse in the Stable Gallery in New York. These boxes were created to showcase the beauty in everyday objects, whilst also exhibiting the idea that art was all around us in everyday life and raised a question about what we, as the human race, value as being ‘real’ art and what we value as just a knock-off. Although this could be seen as one of the main bodies of work that cemented Warhol’s place in the Pop Art movement, as well as the rather famous Campbell soup cans, it didn’t seem to go down too well with the general public and a lot of the art critics of the time.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Brillo Box (3 cents off), silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 13 1/8 x 16 x 11½ in (33.3 x 40.6 x 29.2 cm.). Executed in 1963-1964. (Image from Christie’s).

Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes brought up a variety of questions for the art world and the general public as they questioned the skill behind the creation, the idea of appropriation in the art world and within his work that ultimately copied an object that already existed. The audience questioned the idea of buying art when they could get an identical version of the artwork in the general supermarket, when in reality, Warhol was trying to get the world to understand that art was already surrounding them and why we would identify something that was in a gallery as art, but something that was on the shelf of a supermarket as just being a consumable object, or in the case of Warhol, how something that was identical to an object in the supermarket could even be considered as art. A quote from Eleanor Ward, an art dealer from The Stable Gallery, in 1995 stated that “[The boxes] were very difficult to sell. He (Andy Warhol) thought that everyone was going to buy them on sight, he really and truly did. We all had visions of people walking down Madison Avenue with these boxes under their arms, but we never saw them”, but sadly, this wasn’t the case with the Brillo Boxes. It is not until time passed that the public’s understanding of Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking, mystery and, unfortunately, his untimely death, that the artwork finally clicked within their minds and the idea behind the Brillo Boxes started to make sense and became an object that museums and private collectors needed to have within their collections.

Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)
Andy Warhol, Yellow Brillo Box, 1964, synthetic polymer paint, screenprint on wood, 13 x 16 x 11-1/2 inches overall. (© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York)

Originally, Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes cost around two hundred dollars to purchase, which seemed a lot of money back then, but today, in the modern world, the boxes are frequently being sold at auction for prices in the millions. In 2010, just over forty years after its creation, a yellow version of Warhol’s Brillo Box sold for three million dollars, $3,050,500 to be precise, at Christie’s Auction House in New York, showing that Andy Warhol’s out of the box thinking and overall influence on the Pop Art movement eventually paid off, just like the artist thought it would.

But, fear not, although many of the Brillo boxes are selling for millions across the globe, some are still able to be seen in museums such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States of America and is frequently on tour having recently spent a period of time at the Tate Modern in London. Or, if you’re unable to see the Brillo Boxes at a location near you, then you are still able to take a virtual tour of the Andy Warhol exhibition from the Tate Modern in London last year with the link below.

Andy Warhol at Tate Modern – Exhibition Tour - https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/andy-warhol/exhibition-guide

Andy Warhol HBO
Andy Warhol HBO
Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
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