Welcome to the world of Robert Indiana, where words and symbols merge to create powerful messages that resonate with audiences worldwide. Robert Indiana, born Robert Clark in 1928, was an American artist whose iconic works have left an indelible mark on contemporary art. Best known for his bold and vibrant compositions featuring numbers, letters, and symbols such as the iconic LOVE sculpture, Indiana’s art transcends mere visual representation, delving into the realms of emotion, identity, and cultural commentary.
Indiana’s fascination with language and symbolism stems from his upbringing and early experiences. Raised in Indiana, he was influenced by the bold signage and industrial landscape of his surroundings. This environment would later manifest in his distinctive style, characterized by clean lines, bold colors, and a keen attention to typography. Throughout his career, Indiana explored themes of love, hope, and the human condition, infusing his art with a sense of optimism and vitality that continues to captivate audiences to this day. Now, let’s delve into the world of Robert Indiana through his insightful and inspiring quotes.
I’m sure all the people who have been born 20 years ago don’t know anything about me at all except ‘LOVE’, and that’s a nasty word. Robert Indiana
I never had the exposure to techniques and so forth that children have today with art workshops, but I always had crayons and pencils and still have work going right back to when I was five or six years old. Robert Indiana
‘LOVE’ bit me. It was a marvelous idea, but it was also a terrible mistake. It became too popular; it became too popular. Robert Indiana
I really have to think of myself as a painter first because sculpture came much, much later. As a student at the Art Institute in Chicago, I simply never became involved in sculpture. I did prints, and I did paintings. Robert Indiana
My art is a disciplined high dive – high soar, simultaneous & polychromous, an exaltation of the verbal-visual… my dialogue. Robert Indiana
I’ve always been fascinated by numbers. Before I was seventeen years old, I had lived in twenty-one different houses. In my mind, each of those houses had a number. Robert Indiana
I have been writing poetry ever since I was in high school. My poetry mainly concerned the theme of love. And that, of course, is an endless subject. Robert Indiana
When I was painting portraits and – shall we say? – rather allegorical heads, which is the figurative work which immediately preceded the direction I have since gone, these images were always of a very fixed, rigid quality, and, of course, my work still has this aspect. Robert Indiana
I realize that protest paintings are not exactly in vogue, but I’ve done many. Robert Indiana
The American Dream – that’s our folly. That’s our folly. Look where we’re ending up. Robert Indiana
Some people like to paint trees. I like to paint love. I find it more meaningful than painting trees. Robert Indiana
I think of my peace paintings as one long poem, with each painting being a single stanza. Robert Indiana
It would be my intention that everybody should have love, and there are a lot of people in the world. Robert Indiana
I didn’t think much about Marsden Hartley until very recently, but Gertrude Stein found him to be the best American painter in Europe at the time she was alive. I consider my tributes to him my most important works. Robert Indiana
‘Hug’ is my mother’s word for affection. Robert Indiana
When I was a kid, my mother used to drive my father to work in Indianapolis, and I would see, practically every day of my young life, a huge Phillips 66 sign. So it is the red and green of that sign against the blue Hoosier sky. The blue in the ‘Love’ is cerulean. Therefore, my ‘Love’ is an homage to my father. Robert Indiana
The messages that my work might contain, the verbal aspects, the use of words, certainly I never mean for it to be more than – shall we say? – fifty percent of the total, and sometimes my active interest is much less than that. It is the formal aspect of my painting which fascinates me most. Robert Indiana
Love is a dangerous commodity – fraught with peril. Robert Indiana
Many, many of my paintings have come from the first chapter of Moby Dick. Robert Indiana
I’m a little disappointed in what’s happened. I’m beginning to lose faith in Obama. This Syria thing is ridiculous. He should not be drawing red lines. Robert Indiana
The actual technique, the process of painting flat color and simple geometric edges, all dates from my time here on Coenties Slip. Robert Indiana
There are only two people in ‘Eat’ – myself and my favorite cat, Pachiki – and for 40 minutes, I eat one mushroom. Robert Indiana
Those damned Abstract Expressionists. They were a major problem. Because the critics adored them to such an extent, reams and reams, pages and pages of articles about Abstract Expressionists, when we came along, we were just not taken seriously at all. Robert Indiana
There are people who don’t like popularity. It’s much better to be exclusive and remote. Robert Indiana
I paint the American scene. Robert Indiana
I was the least Pop of all the Pop artists. Robert Indiana
