Robert Indiana is without a doubt one of the most recognized artists in American modern art today. He is most famous for his “LOVE” pop art sculptures that can be found in many languages and variations throughout the world.
Robert Indiana was one of the most prominent and praiseworthy artists of the American modern art movement.
He turned simple and everyday words like love, die, and hope into haunting and harmonic masterpieces.
His Love sculpture has been rendered an iconic symbol of art and has been recreated and featured in multiple cities across the world.
However, Robert Indiana is known for much more than just his creation of Love.
Robert Indiana left behind a legacy that remains untouched by modern artists that followed in his footsteps.
This is the life and legacy of Robert Indiana.
The Beginning
Robert Indiana was born Robert Earl Clark on September 13, 1928, in New Castle, Indiana. He was adopted by parents, who unfortunately did not provide a very stable household. He spent his early childhood in Indiana, in the Indianapolis area. Robert Clark, who later changed his last name to “Indiana”, attended the Arsenal Technical HS in Indianapolis. The art teachers at that school were also professional artists and had a great deal of influence on him as a young man.
Education
Indiana went on to study at the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis and the Munson, Williams, Proctor Institute in Utica, New York. He then enrolled at the famed School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he studied various printmaking techniques and received a degree in 1953. During this time, Robert was recognized as an emerging talent and was awarded a fellowship to Europe. In 1954, he attended Edinburgh University and Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland.
Artistic Success
In 1954, after finishing his schooling, Indiana moved back to the United States and settled in New York. There, he met prominent artist, Ellsworth Kelly, who encouraged Indiana to reside in Coenties Slip in southwest Manhattan.
There, Indiana joined a community of talented artists that included Kelly, Agnes Martin, James Rosenquist, and Jack Youngerman.
His early work was heavily influenced by his new Manhattan environment, and it was this environment that sparked him to go by the name “Robert Indiana”; paying tribute to his native state.
Indiana was so heavily influenced by his New York environment that he would often choose to create his masterpieces with random materials he found throughout the city. He rifled through abandoned warehouses and factories for materials like wooden beams and metal wheels. Indiana would take his newly founded materials and turn them into freestanding artworks.
Throughout the early 1960s, Indiana earned his reputation as one of the most creative artists of his generation. He was featured in numerous art shows in Manhattan. His works were often the centre of art critics’ attention.
In 1961, the Museum of Modern Art acquired his piece The American Dream which established Indiana as a prominent artist of the pop art generation.
Death and Legacy
In 1978, Indiana relocated from the bustling city of New York to the quaint and quiet state of Maine. From his Victorian home in Maine, the artist proceeded to create his masterpieces that were once again full of inspiration from his environment.
Although, the artist grew reclusive in his final years. There was speculation that his caretaker was selling his works and purposely isolating him from his family and friends. A lawsuit was filed over these claims just one day before the artists’ death.
Robert Indiana died on May 19, 2018, at his beloved home in Maine due to respiratory failure. The artist was 89 years old. Indiana left behind a legacy that only a talented and insightful artist could accomplish.
His early works were filled with inspiration from his most cherished environments and places. His use of city materials, bold texts, and iconic images were all evidence of his beloved memories from his childhood in Indiana.
Although critics sometimes thought of him as commercial, similar to how they thought of artist Andy Warhol, Robert Indiana was not afraid of proving his care for social and public issues.
Several of Robert Indiana’s masterpieces are universally known and rendered as inspiration for modern artists that followed him.
Famous Works
In 1961, Robert Indiana began producing a series of paintings with a bold sense of graphic design. It was almost as if Indiana had taken a page from American advertising.
His work presented strong images combined with stencilled text, numbers, and high contrast colors. The artwork seemed “commercial” in nature but still embraced the spirit of the ‘60s American Pop Art movement. Indiana’s affinity for graphic designs led him to using a variety of text. As his style evolved artistically, so did his iconic “signs”.
In fact, Indiana began referring to himself as “America’s Sign Painter” with a unique distinction. Indiana once said, “There have been many American SIGN painters, but there never were any American sign PAINTERS.”
Indiana used the words “EAT”, “DIE”, “LOVE” and later “HOPE” in his artwork. He artfully rendered their simple text characters with bold, vivid colors and block letters.
In 1966, his exposition at the Stable Gallery in New York City featured the LOVE series. This iconic work has since become one of the most recognizable works in American Pop Art. Although nowadays many mainstream artists reproduce images, text, and symbols of popular culture, Indiana created his own icon with “LOVE”. This distinction set him apart.
Indiana prolifically produced “LOVE” in a myriad of mediums. LOVE was commissioned by NYC’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) to create a Christmas card in 1967. On Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1973, the U.S. Postal Service issued Indiana’s design as a commemorative stamp.
Art Reproduction Mediums
Over the past 50 years, Robert Indiana’s LOVE has been produced in a variety of mediums. It can be seen as a painting, screen print, or a vast series of sculptures in many sizes. Indiana created well over 50 editions of the LOVE sculpture. These works can be found today in respected museums and public settings throughout the world.
Very few artists have been able to replicate variations of their work as Robert Indiana. That’s why there is an ever-vibrant market for his art in all its mediums.
As an example, here are the results of numerous fine art auctions and the mediums employed:
- Phillips Auction – Skein dyed, hand carved and hand tufted archival New Zealand woolen rug, with natural latex backing
- Sotheby’s Auction – Aluminum
- Dane Fine Art – Silkscreen on Paper
- Bonham’s – Hand Woven Wool
- Christie’s Online – Brushed Aluminum
- Kunsthaus Lempertz – Aluminum with Steel Plinth
- Sotheby’s London – Polychromed Aluminum
- Dane Fine Art – HOPE Silkscreen on Canvas
- Christie’s Auction – Cor-ten Steel
- Sotheby’s Paris – Acrylic and Silkscreen Ink / Canvas
You can find LOVE in the City of Brotherly Love, and the home of Dane Fine Art, Philadelphia. You can also find LOVE in the world’s most important museums and public spaces of New York City, San Francisco, New Orleans, Washington DC, London, Berlin, Lisbon, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mumbai, Tokyo, Singapore, and Taipei.
In Jerusalem, you can find LOVE spelled in Hebrew, אהבה.
In Milan, (and Washington DC) you can find LOVE spelled in Italian, AMOR.
While these pieces differ in color palette and scale, they all bear the iconic thumbprint of Indiana’s unique signature and style. Even when his artwork is written in another language or spells out different words like, “HOPE” or “2020”, they are immediately identifiable as Robert Indiana, America’s Painter of Signs.
American Dream (1960-61)
Indiana’s first work of art that gained him recognition for his immense talent as a symbolist artist was his American Dream. The Museum of Modern Art acquired this painting the same year it was created, which was rare for the museum and spoke of its splendour. He included numbers such as 66, 37, 40, and 29 to represent America’s highway routes. Indiana included bold texts such as TAKE ALL to represent Indiana’s distaste for capitalism. The artist actually created nine different versions and renditions of his American Dream; however, its first rendition was created in 1961.
The Calumet (1961)
Inspired by a town in his native state of Indiana, the artist created The Calumet as a symbol and respect for Native American citizens. The Calumet region is the geographical area that included the Grand Calumet River and the Little Calumet River of north-eastern Illinois and north-western Indiana. The region is the original home and native land of the Potawatomi, which were the Native American people of the Great Plains region. Indiana spoke of this art piece saying, “It isn’t about geography, it’s about Longfellow and the Hiawatha and the continent’s first citizens and again a great tragedy.”
EAT (1964)
In 1964, Indiana received an invitation to design an art piece for the New York State Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair. Indiana then created his grand piece, EAT, also known as “electric eat”. It was a 20-foot sign featuring the word Eat which was covered with electric bulbs and flashing lights. Indiana’s inspiration behind his piece was his memories of large family reunions where eating was the most important thing. The word “eat” was also his mother’s last words to her son, Robert, before she passed. However, the World Fair officials thought the sign was too ostentatious and decided to turn the lights off the very first day it was revealed at the fair. This was mainly because fair visitors thought the sign indicated a food court or concession stand.
The Hartley Elegies (1989-94)
In 1978, Indiana decided to leave his city life behind and settle on the remote island of Vinalhaven in Maine. After a long period of settling and setting up his new home, Indiana created a suite of eighteen large-scale paintings known as The Hartley Elegies.
The artist got his inspiration from his very own home in Maine, which had a past occupant known as Marsden Hartley, who was a modernist painter known for his portraits of German Officers.
Included in his Hartley Elegies series, Indiana also created two massive sculptures named KvF and Mars. KvF was named after German soldier, Karl von Freyburg. Indiana wished to commemorate the soldier in honour of the 75th anniversary of his death that year.
HOPE (2008) (H3)
In 2008, Indiana created his own rendition of his sculpture, LOVE, and titled it HOPE. His creation was inspired by the presidential campaign of President Barack Obama that same year. Indiana donated all proceeds from the sale of his piece to President Obama’s campaign, raising over one million dollars. Indiana referred to this piece as “Love’s close relative”. Indiana’s HOPE was his last large sculpture created before his death in 2018.