Robert Indiana, LOVE

UPPER LEVEL

Robert Indiana

Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE sculpture was conceived in 1966 and executed in 1998 and is one of more than 50 editions found in various sites around the world, including in New York City, Philadelphia, London, Taipei, and Singapore.
Spelling the word LOVE, serifed letters are placed atop one another, with the LO over the VE evoking a child’s whimsically stacked blocks. The artist’s signature tilted O and predominantly red palette–with pops of Crayola (OR “bright”) blue and green–add to the playfulness of the piece.
Discussing his decision to use a word as the basis for his pop art creation, Indiana remarked: “The LOVE sculpture is the culmination of ten years of work based on the original premise that the word is an appropriate and usable element of art, just as Picasso and the Cubists made use of it at the beginning of the century.”
Indiana first developed the LOVE image for the Museum of Modern Art’s annual Christmas card–and quite fittingly, it was one of the institution’s best loved cards. The LOVE design would go on to become a pop icon realized in a variety of mediums and languages, and even being issued a commemorative stamp by the U.S. Postal Service.