| Robert Indiana | ||
| Birth Date: September 13, 1928 |
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| Death Date: May 19, 2018 Artist Gallery |
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| In a 2003 New York Times article, Robert Indiana is described as “…one truly odd fellow, as he readily acknowledges. Besides a cantankerous demeanor and an ever-present cigar, Mr. Indiana affects a ponytail and a ‘Benjamin Harrison’ beard”. Born Robert Clark from New Castle, Indiana, he is best associated with the Pop Art movement. Indiana considers himself a “sign painter” and his simple, bold, iconic images reflect an American landscape. You may remember his 1964 “LOVE” logo that was created for the Museum of Modern Art as a Christmas card, which became a much beloved image on a postage stamp. Unfortunately, Indiana never copyrighted that image and did not profit from the countless times it appeared on everything from coffee mugs to t-shirts. In addition, its commercialism did not endear Indiana to the art establishment.
Currently, Indiana lives in a large Victorian house on a windblown island off the rocky coast of Maine. He was in New York during the September 11th attacks; he returned to Maine and painted images of billowing American flags on his plywood window covers.
“I’ve always been interested in artists and their lives, he said. Not just their art, but how they lived. I’ve tried to carve out a life which might be of interest to someone, the life of an artist”. When asked to describe that life he says: “I remember when I was 5 and told my mother and father I wanted to become an artist. They told me that artists live in attics and live on beans”
Indiana said he feels that he has fulfilled that vision.
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