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Lot Essay
This work will be included in the Robert Indiana Catalogue raisonné being prepared by Simon Salama-Caro.
Robert Indiana's iconic LOVE image is among the best known of his subjects. This image was eventually conceived in 1966 and then subsequently cast into sculptural form. A wonderful example of mechanical efficiency, the four letter stacked composition, which Indiana had skilfully honed over the years, in three dimensions became a truly powerful and immediate vehicle of signification and meaning. The color, the fusing force that unites the artist's entire body of work, draws attention immediately. In this 6 foot form, the violet/red LOVE is language at giant scale. It is vibrant and dynamic. As the O tilts to the side, there is a definite sense of visual movement. "A common typographical device," Indiana frequently came across this use of the titled O in poetry in Edinburgh.
Acquiring a heightened sense of color from mentor and close friend, Ellsworth Kelly, Indiana's arrangement of color combinations become part of his story. As seen here in this large scale LOVE sculpture, violet and red recalls the color combination of his beloved number EIGHT, a number associated with his mother Carmen, with whom Indiana held great affection for.
Robert Indiana's iconic LOVE image is among the best known of his subjects. This image was eventually conceived in 1966 and then subsequently cast into sculptural form. A wonderful example of mechanical efficiency, the four letter stacked composition, which Indiana had skilfully honed over the years, in three dimensions became a truly powerful and immediate vehicle of signification and meaning. The color, the fusing force that unites the artist's entire body of work, draws attention immediately. In this 6 foot form, the violet/red LOVE is language at giant scale. It is vibrant and dynamic. As the O tilts to the side, there is a definite sense of visual movement. "A common typographical device," Indiana frequently came across this use of the titled O in poetry in Edinburgh.
Acquiring a heightened sense of color from mentor and close friend, Ellsworth Kelly, Indiana's arrangement of color combinations become part of his story. As seen here in this large scale LOVE sculpture, violet and red recalls the color combination of his beloved number EIGHT, a number associated with his mother Carmen, with whom Indiana held great affection for.