Robert Indiana

Robert Indiana is an American Pop artist drawing inspiration from the typography found on signs, billboards, and commercial logos. He is best known for his LOVE image, with its bold stacked letterforms and tilted O. The LOVE motif has been translated into a US postage stamp as well as numerous large-scale steel sculptures across the world. “I had no idea LOVE would catch on the way it did,” he said of his iconic work. “Oddly enough, I wasn't thinking at all about anticipating the Love generation and hippies. It was a spiritual concept. It isn't a sculpture of love any longer. It's become the very theme of love itself.” Born Robert Earl Clark on September 13, 1928 in New Castle, IN, Indiana adopted the name of his home state after serving in the military. He went on to receive his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1954. Later that year, he moved to New York, following the advice of his friend Ellsworth Kelly. While living in Lower Manhattan, he became acquainted with a number of prominent artists, including Agnes Martin, Jack Youngerman, and James Rosenquist. In September 2013, the Whitney Museum of American Art hosted the first retrospective of Indiana’s work in New York. The artist currently lives and works in Vinalhaven, ME. His works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London, and the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., among others.