Liberal Arts Blog — Robert Indiana, (1928–2018) “Love,” “Hope,” “Eat,” “Die,” “Hug” “Err”
Liberal Arts Blog: Friday is the Joy of Art, Architecture, Design, Film, Fashion, and All Things Visual Day
Today’s Topic: Robert Indiana, (1928–2018) “Love,” “Hope,” “Eat,” “Die,” “Hug” “Err”
Wow! What a glorious morning! On Tuesday (literature day) I had a post on Williams Carlos Williams which included Charles Demuth’s painting “I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold,” which was a graphic version of the poem “The Great Figure” about a bright red fire engine whizzing by.
Rooting about the internet I unearthed Robert Indiana’s spin on Demuth and Williams — which is discussed in Part One of today’s triptych. This led me to learn about the Indiana “Love” sculpture which is Part Two.
The third is about “Hope” notably featured at the entrance of his home in Vinalhaven, Maine where he lived in seclusion for roughly 40 years. This post is the first in a series on Indiana. I have found a soulmate — a guy who integrates graphics, numbers, and words.
Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
INDIANA’S SPIN ON DEMUTH’S SPIN ON WILLIAMS CARLOS WILLIAMS — see first two links below
1. Demuth was obsessed with the American dream.
2. He was obsessed with the meaning of life.
3. He was obsessed with numbers.
NB: My kinda guy. And I was really utterly oblivious of his story until this week.
This is why I love writing this blog.
HE NAILED IT WITH THE “LOVE” SCULPTURE (WHICH SPAWNED “AMOR” (SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE) AND “AHAVA” (HEBREW), and many more around the world — It became a US postage stamp in 1973
1. There are many different versions in many color combinations. ‘Indiana’s red, blue, and green LOVE sculpture incorporates the colors found in many of early LOVE paintings. The artist chose these colors because of childhood memories of being on the road and frequently passing the red and green Philips 66 sign, standing out against a blue sky.”
2. Echoes of the Bible, particularly the Gospel of John. Foreshadowing Lennon’s “Love, Love, Love” the most memorable moment in the 1967 global satellite simulcast (the biggest in history until that point)
3. Which version of “Love” is etched in your brain? The one in Philly in “Love Park”? After all, Philly is the city of brotherly love….
NB: See the first link below for a list of 37 locations of the LOVE sculpture in the US, 5 in Canada, 11 in Europe, 21 in Asia, and 2 in Latin America.
“The first paintings addressing the subject of love were “4-Star Love” (1961) and “Love is God” (1964).
“The art historian Susan Elizabeth Ryan wrote that in 1964 LOVE had been a “more explicit four-letter word — beginning with F, and with a second letter, a U, intriguingly tilted to the right.” Indiana and (Ellsworth) Kelly had been in a rocky relationship and Indiana had been working on word paintings. She adds “The two men were in the habit of exchanging postcard-size sketches, with Mr. Kelly laying down fields of color and Mr. Indiana adding large words atop the abstractions. Indiana’s red, blue, and green LOVE painting was then selected to appear on the Museum of Modern Art’s annual Christmas card in 1965. In an interview Robert Indiana said “It was the most profitable Christmas card the museum ever published.”
THE TILTED “O” APPEARS IN HIS RED, WHITE, AND BLUE HOPE SCULPTURE AS WELL
1. “Kelly’s background in the military has been suggested as a source of the seriousness of his works. While serving time in the army, Kelly was exposed to and influenced by the camouflage with which his specific battalion worked. This taught him about the use of form and shadow, as well as the construction and deconstruction of the visible.”
2. “In 1973, the United States Postal Service commissioned a stamp design by Indiana and released the eight-cent LOVE stamp in advance of Valentine’s Day Unveiled in a ceremony at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the the stamp became so popular that 425 million were printed over the next two years.”
3. Indiana served in the Air Force between 1946 and 1949 and subsequently attended art school funded by the GI Bill.
NB: What random tidbits do you know about Indiana worth sharing? This is the tip of the iceberg.
To be continued.
I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold — Wikipedia
An artist guide to Robert Indiana
List of Love sculptures — Wikipedia
Artist Robert Indiana Dies At 89: The Story Behind ‘LOVE’
Robert Indiana Had All but Vanished in Recent Years. Some Friends Wondered Why. (Published 2018)
LOVE — Red Blue Green — Artworks-Items — Robert Indiana
https://www.robertindiana.com/artworks/artworks-items/love10
How to See the LOVE Statue in Philadelphia
Charles Demuth | I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The X-5 — Artist Questionnaire, Whitney Museum of American Art — Selected Writings — Robert Indiana
Robert Indiana’s Maine misadventures — Island Institute
Robert Indiana’s Island Home Still Grapples With His Legacy (Published 2019)
Star of Hope, the Vinalhaven home of late artist Robert Indiana, gets new life
Robert Indiana’s Vinalhaven Home Needs Millions Of Dollars In Restoration To Become Museum
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY
Updating PDFs: 2023 — Google Drive
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
NB: Palestine Orion (Decision) — let’s exchange Orions, let’s find Rumi’s field
(“Beyond all ideas of right and wrong, there is a field. Meet me there” Rumi,
13 century Persian Sufi mystic)
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned recently or ever related to art, sculpture, design, architecture, film, or anything visual.
This is your chance to make some one else’s day. And to cement in your own memory something cool or important you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than you otherwise would about something that is close to your heart.
