In the fall 1961, Andy Warhol is feeling low.

 

Roy Lichtenstein is having his breakthrough with his comics painting at Leo Castelli’s Gallery.

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Warhol, who had been painting comics too, is in need of inspiration and wants to find a theme that can make him be as successful.

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During a visit at Warhol's studio, he “picked the brain” of the gallery owner Muriel Latow and she led him to the Campbell Soup subject, a brand he frequently had as a meal.

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Warhol favorite word of that time was “fabulous” and the #IOU refers to both to the success of the Campbell paintings and to the $50 check that Warhol wrote to Latow.

 

Source: The Genius of Andy Warhol Pop by Tony Sherman and David Dalton