LOVE outside at the IMA in the early years
Robert Indiana was born in 1928 as Robert Clark. His first use of the stacked four letters of “LOVE” was created for a Christmas card in 1964 for the New York Museum of Modern Art. This design creation led to the LOVE sculpture constructed of Cor-ten steel in 1970. LOVE was first put on display at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It made the rounds of several American cities for five years until it returned to the IMA. After needed restoration was performed due to weathering of the steel, it is now displayed inside the museum building to protect it from the elements.
Standing in front of the LOVE sculpture will give you a feel for the size of the letters
Remember 8 cent stamps?
The design was also the inspiration of a USPS 8 cent stamp in 1973. Countless copies of the statue were made and sold over the years, however Robert Indiana had failed to copyright his design, thus he did not reap the benefits.
Roadtirement 
Wow, I’m sorry that he never earned any profits from his design. I hope that he lived to see that others loved it!
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He was born in 1928, died in 2018. He lived a long life and witnessed the many uses of his LOVE. Thank you Diana for sharing.
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LOVEly.
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Nice, thanks Tim.
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Fascinating. Who now has the longest hair?
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(Smiling) good question Derrick. Currently my hair is in fact a bit longer than Sher’s.
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That is what I thought 🙂
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How interesting! I’ve seen that LOVE sign many times and never wondered where it came from.
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Anne I remember in the 70’s seeing the “LOVE” design lots of places. Thanks for sharing.
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I not only remember 8-cent stamps, I have several sheets of them inherited from my father. He used to make 100 copies of newspaper clippings he thought people would enjoy, buy a sheet of 100 commemorative stamps and a box of 100 9×12 envelopes, print labels, and send out his “mailings.” When he died in 2007, he left a large collection of stamps in various denominations (along with many sheets of photocopy and several partial boxes of envelopes). My brothers and I divvied up the stamps; two of them took the stamps to a dealer and got what they could for them, but one brother and I did our best to use them up, sending mail with a variety of assorted commemoratives for several years before giving up.
I also recall that, when I was in college, Air Mail was just seven cents (and actually went faster than surface mail).
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Fascinating ongoing project your father pursued. Thanks for sharing this look into your family. Good comment about the Air Mail timing “back then”.
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Great picture.
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Thanks! 😉
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Oh! So, the one I saw in Philly isn’t the original? There’s also one on Wichita State University’s campus. This has been informative for me.
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The one in the Newfields (Indianapolis Museum of Art) is the original one made by the artist. Indiana made several more like the original, the one in Philly is one of his. Check out this link. Don’t know about the Wichita State one. Thank for joining in the conversation
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Thank you! I’ll take a look.
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You both look so natural standing in front of this sculpture. Almost like it was made for you.
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Thank you JC! That is so sweet of you, we both appreciate your comment!
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