KAWS Reimagines the Sacher-Torte Box for a Vienna Charity Release
A chocolate cake with a 19th-century pedigree has become the unlikely canvas for one of contemporary art’s most recognizable figures. American artist KAWS (b. 1974), whose real name is Brian Donnelly, has designed this year’s Sacher Artists’ Collection box for Hotel Sacher, turning the packaging for Austria’s signature Sacher-Torte into a limited-edition collectible tied to a charitable cause.
The release is limited to 1,000 boxes and priced at €80 ($93). It is available at Sacher hotel locations in Vienna and Salzburg, as well as through the hotel’s online store. All proceeds will go to NF Kinder, an Austrian nonprofit that supports children affected by neurofibromatosis, a rare genetic disorder that can cause tumors, chronic pain, and neurological complications.
For the design, KAWS revisited his 2021 work “SPOKE TOO SOON,” which features COMPANION, his best-known character with crossed-out eyes and a Mickey Mouse-like silhouette. In the painting, COMPANION appears to be climbing out of rubble, a gesture the artist said suggested movement and forward motion. “It adds a little humor to the idea of the cake,” KAWS said.
The collaboration marks the 18th edition of the Sacher Artists’ Collection, which began in 2009 and has previously included designs by Robert Longo, Sarah Morris, Erwin Wurm, and Katherine Bernhardt. Alexandra Winkler, co-owner of Sacher, said the project brings “a new contemporary perspective” to the house and reflects the family-run business’s interest in reinterpreting tradition.
The timing also aligns with KAWS’s exhibition “Art & Comix” at the Albertina Museum in Vienna, on view through September 27. The show examines the overlap between comics, cartoons, and fine art through KAWS’s work alongside artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Raymond Pettibon, Joyce Pensato, and Tschabalala Self.
The Sacher-Torte itself has long carried cultural weight beyond dessert. Invented by 16-year-old apprentice chef Franz Sacher in 1832 for a request from the court of Prince Metternich, it remains one of Austria’s most familiar culinary exports. In KAWS’s hands, that legacy is reframed as both souvenir and support mechanism — a small object that links museum culture, design, and philanthropy in a single gesture.
