Andy Warhol Large Campbell's Soup Can, Pepper Pot

This is not quite what it seems. While it looks exactly like Andy Warhol's famous Campbell's Soup Can, it is actually Richard Pettibone's hand painted version from 1969. Pettibone built his career on making small, meticulous copies of works by Warhol and other Pop artists. The joke runs deep here, because Warhol was already copying a grocery store product, which means Pettibone gave us a copy of a copy. That layering turns a simple soup can into a real head scratcher about what originality even means and who gets to call something art.

The flavor on display is Pepper Pot, a spicy beef and vegetable soup that carries the nickname "the soup that won the American Revolution." Every classic Campbell's detail is here, from the crisp red and white split down the middle to the gold medallion and the row of tiny stars along the base. Pettibone was ahead of his time with this kind of appropriation art, treating celebrated artworks as if they were products that could be reproduced and sold again and again. The painting is small in size but generous with wit, teasing the art world while clearly having a soft spot for it.