‘Love’-ing farewell to pop artist

ARTIST ROBERT Indiana, whose famous LOVE sculpture was a cultural emblem of the 1960s and 1970s, died of respiratory failure Saturday at his home in Maine. He was 89.

In 1964, Indiana created the design for the iconic piece, which has an L with a rightward-tilted O on top, and the letters V and E on the bottom.

“The word LOVE is that way because those four letters best fit a square if the square is squared by that particular arrangement,” he explained in a 1971 interview with WNYC.

Dozens of versions of the LOVE sculpture exist. New York has one at Sixth Ave. and W. 55th St.A concerned Morgan Art Foundation Ltd., which supported Indiana’s work, filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Federal Court on Friday saying he had been isolated by those around him, including a fisherman he’d hired to work around his house.

Indiana’s ex-publicist said she had asked Maine health investigators go to look into his well-being.