This triptych is formed by three skate decks made of 7 ply grade A Canadian maple wood.
© Morgan Art Foundation, LLC. Licensed by Artestar, New York.
Robert Indiana’s LOVE is one of those works that quietly rewrites art history. It all begins in 1964, when MoMA commissions him to design a Christmas card. He takes four letters, L-O-V-E, stacks them vertically and tilts the “O” 45 degrees to the right. Roadside-sign typography, punchy color, perfectly calibrated tension. No one yet suspects what is coming.
In 1966, Stable Gallery stages the first exhibition. It’s a sensation: queues at the door, dealers vying for works, MoMA acquiring a painting almost straight off the easel. The real earthquake, however, comes in 1973, when the U.S. Postal Service issues 425 million stamps with the LOVE image. A historic record. Suddenly, the word lands in every mailbox in the country.
Overnight, what began as a critique of the American Dream turns into its unofficial logo. Weddings, T-shirts, keyrings, corporate lobbies. Indiana starts to resent his own creation, “I’ve created a monster,” he would say. While the United States monetises the image, he struggles to keep control of his rights.
This is not Hallmark romance. Its roots lie in his Methodist upbringing in the Midwest and in the verse “God is love” (1 John 4:8). The compressed letters evoke a crowded, pressured America; the tilted “O” hints at broken promises. While Warhol laughs at consumerism, Indiana goes looking for something more permanent, teeth bared. Spiritual Pop, full of contradictions.
On the market, original LOVE screenprints appear in limited editions that command significant prices. Institutions such as MoMA and the Whitney have long since secured their examples, and major exhibitions have cemented its status. It is Pop Art that carries instant recognition and long-term credibility, an image that slipped into everyday life and never left.
Collect LOVE by Robert Indiana
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