My Love Letter To You Today!
Love Sculpture
(c) Manny 90026, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikipedia Commons
If you feel like you’ve seen this LOVE sculpture by artist © Robert Indiana somewhere, it might be because there are 33 of them around the United States, either made or sanctioned by the artist.
In addition, this sculpture is in about 22 other countries around the globe, from Canada and Columbia, to Israel, Japan, Portugal and Switzerland.
If that’s not enough, how about the US Postal Stamp of his artwork? That was produced in 1973 on Valentine’s Day (see my sneaky connection?).
Before the first sculpture, and before the postage stamp, the Love design was created by Indiana as a series of rubbings on canvas, which he sent to friends as Christmas cards.
Then, in 1965, his LOVE was selected by the Museum of Modern Art for its Christmas card design. It was a smash hit with the public.
Five years later, the artist created his first LOVE sculpture in unpainted steel. Many, many commissions of that sculpture followed.
Before and after creating LOVE, Indiana created numerous other artworks that, like LOVE, had meaning to him personally, politically and socially.
Although Indiana was already a recognized artist who had exhibited in solo exhibitions both in the United States and in Europe, it was this LOVE piece that propelled him into becoming a globally known figure.
In fact, the popularity of his work became a challenge to him, as he felt shunned by the art world insiders. (People used his work with no authorization on products, and the art world thought he had turned into a sell-out.)
Yet there’s no denying the appeal of his piece, which he even translated into sculptures with the word love in Hebrew (Ahavah) and Spanish (AMOR).
As with other iconic artwork, while everyone has their own taste, this piece spoke to an entire generation in the 1970s, and still attracts visitors for selfies with the sculpture today.
Happy Valentine’s Day and remember that when you are approaching a public art installation, whether by choice or by public art requirement, you can do it in a manner that speaks to the world!