Campbell Kids From Ed Ruscha

ed ruscha study in oil on paper is a square of deep blue surrounding three fat capital letters in yellow: OOF, which he made into a painting, which was made into a hoodie at moma. this one's at the national gallery tho
Ed Ruscha, study for OOF, 1962, oil and pastel, probably 12 x 11 in. or so, via the National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery has acquired an incredible study for Ed Ruscha’s OOF, but, amazingly, that is not important now. Because on the back is this:

an illustration of two cherubic children dressed as little chefs marching with a giant spoon, the campbell kids were marketing mascots for the soup company, here appropriated by ed ruscha, or rather, ed ruscha made a study on a leftover lithograph of this soup ad. now at the national gallery
Aux armes, les citoyens! verso, from Ed Ruscha, it says

These are the Campbell Kids, used to sell soup. What are they doing on the back of Ed Ruscha’s study? I think they were left over from his 1960 Christmas card.

two cherubic pug nosed kids with fake mustaches and chef outfits are prancing while holding a soup spoon, campbell soup mascots repurposed into a christmas card by ed ruscha whose handwriting above reads have a soup super season, in a mix of ink/lithography and watercolor paint. this one sold at swann in 2019
Ed Ruscha, paint on litho, 1960, 14 1/4 x 10 3/4 in,. sold at Swann in 2019 as part of a Ruscha grab bag

This one sold at Swann along with a whole stack of Ruscha deepcuts. The Campbell Kids have been lifted from a print illustration, obviously, but seeing them both, it turns out the “From Ed Ruscha” handwriting is printed, too.

two cherubic pug nosed kids with fake mustaches and chef outfits are prancing while holding a soup spoon, campbell soup mascots repurposed into a christmas card by ed ruscha whose handwriting above reads have a soup super season, in a mix of ink/lithography and watercolor paint. in a pale wood frame, selling at la modern in 2025
Ed Ruscha, Have a (soup) Super Season, 1960, 14 1/2 x 10 3/4 in., selling in two weeks at LA Modern

Amazingly, there is another one coming up for sale, if the emperor allows it, in Los Angeles in two weeks. So the OOF sheet had the “Have a soup super” trimmed off. How long did Ruscha use his leftovers as scratch paper? Are there Campbell Kids on the verso of any other drawings? So many questions!

What I do know is that this LA Modern image, without the OOF oil soaking through, will be easier to make a t-shirt from. Stay tuned.