Robert Indiana — to him, ‘LOVE’ was an odd relationship
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Pop artist Robert Indiana, best known for his 1960s “LOVE” series, died at his secluded island home off the Maine coast having never found the type of lasting love that was celebrated by thousands through his iconic work.
The artist’s endearing image of LOVE is instantly recognizable around the world. Couples have their photo taken at the LOVE sculpture in Philadelphia, and the iconic image was used on postage stamps.
But the man behind the art grew up in a household where the word “love” was never spoken, and he never found a lasting relationship, said Barbara Haskell, curator of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.
“The word was never used in his family growing up. He had a complicated relationship with the word,” Haskell said.
Indiana died Saturday from respiratory failure at his home in a converted Odd Fellows Hall, a fraternal order lodge, on Vinalhaven Island, 15 miles off the mainland, said James Brannan, his attorney. He was 89.
Indiana created a lifetime of art but he’s best known for LOVE, spelled with two letters to a line and with a tilted “O.” It’s been transformed into sculptures around the world, sometimes in different languages, from Spain to Israel to Japan.
“In some ways, he was perhaps seen as the proverbial one-hit wonder because ‘LOVE’ was so immensely iconic and immensely huge in pop culture,” said Dan Mills, director at Bates College Museum of Art. “For better or for worse, it overshadowed some of his other contributions.”
Indiana, who was born Robert Clark in the state of Indiana, left behind the art scene in New York and retreated in 1978 to Maine, living on Vinalhaven.
He told The Associated Press in 2009 that he moved to his house — which a benefactor bought for him — when he needed a place to go after his lease ran out on his five-story studio and gallery in the Bowery section of New York City.
His desire for solitude was legendary.
In 2014, he disappointed dozens of fans by failing to make an appearance outside his home for an event dubbed International HOPE Day, which was inspired by his creativity.
Although his iconic “LOVE” tended to overshadow everything else, he never stopped producing art. That included fashioning a “HOPE” design, similar to “LOVE,” in honor of former President Barack Obama.
The Whitney Museum of American Art staged a 2013 exhibit, “Robert Indiana: Beyond Love.” In Maine, Mills was inspired by the Whitney’s exhibition to produce a 2016 exhibition, “Robert Indiana: Now and Then.”
In the end, Indiana found love through his art and adoration from the public. But real love, Indiana recognized, was a “dangerous commodity” that can die out and lead to disappointment, Haskell said.
“On one hand, he accepted that love became a symbol that brought him international renown,” she said. “But for him love also has this element of fragility and precariousness.”