(3 May 1997) English/Nat

Christie's prestigious auction house in New York City has been gearing up for what could be a record breaking spring art auction.

Andy Warhol's famous Campbell's Soup Can, alone, could sell for more than two million dollars at next week's sale.

But ordinary New York shoppers have been less than convinced of the artistic merit of a soup can label.

Whether they're buying art or groceries, New York City shoppers insist on value for money.

At a cost of only a few dollars, these tins of Campbell's Soup always sell quickly.

But most shoppers agree they would pay nothing for the cans without the soup inside.

VOXPOP: (English)
"I would never pay a dime for this wrapper... or even consider it."
SUPERCAPTION: VOX POP

VOXPOP: (English)
"What do I want the wrapper for?
(Q: You might like it, it might be artistic?)
No, I don't think I need it."
SUPERCAPTION: VOX POP

But one shopper did seem to think a million dollars was a fair price for a soup label.

VOXPOP: (English)
"A million bucks? Come here honey child. A million... maybe.. you probably have a point there... yes probably a million... am I right?
SUPERCAPTION: VOX POP

She would be right if the supermarket was Christie's Park Avenue auction house and the label was Andy Warhol's famous 1962 art work.

Big Tom Campbell's Soup Can goes on sale next week, and it's expected to fetch in excess of a million dollars.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Instead of Campbell's...here it says camp...so it's kind of a play on words with the idea of mixing the high with the low. The estimate for this picture is one and a half to two and a half million dollars and it is the most important Warhol to come to auction since Christie's last sold Shot Red Marilyn in November of 1994."
SUPERCAPTION: Neal Meltzer, Christie's Contemporary Art
Department

The Campbell's soup painting is so highly valued because it launched the artist to unprecedented international fame.

But Roy Lichtenstein's war painting, Blang, comes with an even bigger price tag.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"What's great about this painting in general is that it still
encompasses this frame within a frame so you read it very literally
like a comicstrip as well it has these old primary colors that come
out very strong so it has a tremendous graphic impact...the estimate
is three to four million dollars."
SUPERCAPTION: Neal Meltzer, Christie's Contemporary Art
Department

Rare works by Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline and Mark Rothko will also be offered for prices ranging from a half a million to more than three million dollars.

On a more modest scale - Alexander Calder's 1962 untitled mobile could be snapped up for as little as three hundred thousand dollars.

Another highlight of the pop art extravaganza is de Kooning's two million dollar expressionist masterpiece, Amityville.

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