Robert Indiana (American, 1928–2018)
LOVE, 1996
Stainless steel
Bruce Museum, Gift of Alan and Deborah Simon, 2024.04.01
A key figure in the Pop art movement in the United States, Robert Indiana is best known for his incorporation of language, signs, and logos in his art. The design for LOVE, the artist’s most iconic body of work, was first created in 1958, partially inspired by his strained romantic relationship with Ellsworth Kelly, his mentor and fellow artist. Indiana continued to experiment with the motif for the remainder of his life—creating the first of more than fifty LOVE sculptures in 1966 and designing a stamp for the US Postal Service in 1973—cementing its place in American culture.