Art and Appetite: American Art, Culture, and Cuisine is a mouthwatering exhibition of 60 paintings that explores the art and culture of food. Opening Feb. 22 and running through May 18, 2014, at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, TX, the exhibition investigates the many meanings and interpretations of dining in America.

Depictions of food in art frequently celebrate the pleasures of eating: elegant and orderly arrangements of cookies or cakes, lavish and overflowing arrays of fruit, or the remnants of a gluttonous feast all convey the passion for consumption. Yet paintings of edibles also speak volumes about their cultural context.

From this country’s earliest years, American artists have used still-life painting to express cultural, political and social values, elevating the subject to a significant artistic language. The topic of food allowed American artists both to celebrate and critique their society, expressing ideas relating to politics, race, class, gender, commerce, and how these categories define American identity.

Art and Appetite includes many iconic works such as Nighthawks (1942) by Edward Hopper, Freedom from Want (1942) by Norman Rockwell and Campbell’s Soup (1965) by Andy Warhol.

Art and Appetite: American Painting, Culture, and Cuisine was organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and is on view there through Jan. 27, 2014.