“I really do live for the future, because when I’m eating a box of candy, I can’t wait to taste the last piece.” — Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol’s 'Candy Box,' completed in 1980, is a representative example of the artist’s ability to elevate commonplace objects to new levels of significance. Returning to the consumerism of his work of the sixties, 'Candy Box' acts as the metaphysical symbol for its respective object, representing the themes of desire, prosperity, and love that are commonly ascribed to the actual sweet treat. His decision to forgo any specific branding in the work further underpins its abstract embodiment, removing the producer from consideration and only focusing on the essence of the object.

Warhol himself was known to have an insatiable sweet tooth, with a particular penchant for chocolate. In The Philosophy of Andy Warhol, the artist declares “When I was a child, I never had a fantasy about having a maid, what I had a fantasy about having was candy. As I matured that fantasy translated itself into ‘make money to have candy,’ … my career started to pick up, and I started getting more and more candy, and now I have a roomful of candy all in shopping bags.” In this quote, Warhol elevates candy from something he enjoys to a motivator for his work. It is through this obsessional love of candy and its associations with desire, prosperity, and love that 'Candy Box' can be understood.

'Candy Box' also embodies Warhol’s affection for the chocolates through the work’s direct physical qualities, evident in its elevated, glittering texture and sensuous red color. Emerging from the negative space within the image, the candies and their zigzagging foil partitions feel truly submerged in the canvas, tempting the thought of picking one straight out of the surrounding ink. This depth is further achieved by the diamond dust that was applied directly to the ink as it dried, thus creating a contrast in textures that feels truly tangible. The reflectiveness of this added material also introduces a dynamic experience to the work, constantly transforming under different light and further convincing the viewer of the candy box’s realness. Warhol clearly employs the common association with diamonds as a sign of luxury and indulgence to emphasize both his own sentiment for the subject and the broader associations people have with candy in general, especially with such finely arranged assortments.

Warhol could accredit his use of diamond dust to the local diamond dealer John Reinhold. Being a dear friend of Warhol, John offered him a jar of diamond dust from his store and proposed that he incorporate it into his work. The result was a series of paintings like this one, with sparkling effects on their surface as the beholder moves in front of them. Love was an especially tender subject for Warhol during the production of these paintings, considering he had just broken up with his long-time partner, Jed Johnson. The immediate fallout of their relationship left Warhol in a tangle of emotions, forlorn and aimless in his quest for love. In such a state, Warhol turned to the subject of candy for the reminder of its comforting effect, and for the gesture of love that it conveys. It was a way for him to relate his feelings to the world in a very recognizable way, and to offer his appreciation to those who have stuck by his side.