All You Need Is Love
Dang do I love this ring! I saw it at a fancy estate sale recently. No markings but I immediately recognized it, and asked the woman how much it was. She said $5, and, though the darn thing didn’t fit (20+ years of rock climbing does a number on your finger joints), I snagged it. The image in question, for those of you unclear, is an art piece by Robert Indiana, and I have a special love for this work.
I was familiar with Robert Indiana’s over-sized LOVE sculpture though I knew little about his work. I had not seen the sculpture, however, until my son married an Indiana girl and settled in the state. The one and only LOVE I have seen is at the wonderful Indianapolis art museum, Newfields (https://discovernewfields.org/). Interested in the artist’s history, I turned to The Oracle. (https://www.ericasheirloomquilts.com/ericas-heirloom-treasures/the-oracle-not-at-delphi)
Yes, Robert Indiana (1928- 2018) was from Indiana, adopted by the Clark family at birth. He studied art from a young age in Indianapolis, and moved to a warehouse in lower Manhattan in the 1950s. “Indiana…scavenged the area’s abandoned warehouses for materials, creating sculptural assemblages from old wooden beams, rusted metal wheels, and other remnants of the shipping trade that had thrived” in the warehouse area where he resided. (1). He took “Indiana” as his last name at this point, and LOVE changed his life.
The work began as a sketch on a series of poems and small notes exchanged between Indiana and Ellsworth Kelly (1923-2015), becoming a series of paintings and eventually an oversized sculpture. While Indiana no longer practiced religion, he insisted that “the message of LOVE be taken as a spiritual one” (3). “This simplicity of its message, paired with its simple composition, combine to create an icon of sculpture and graphic design….Indiana captured the spirit of the 1960s in a word. When John Lennon, viewing an exhibition from this series, commented that “all you need is love”, he amplified Indiana’s statement, transforming it into a hit Beatles anthem and oft-repeated refrain.” (2)
LOVE was used by the Museum of Modern Art in 1965 for its annual Christmas card, as well as a US postage stamp in 1973. It has also been “reproduced on countless unauthorized products, [and this] proliferation of the image, led…to negative criticism and incorrect assumptions of the artist as a sell-out” (1). It turns out, Indiana attempted to secure a copyright on the image, but was rejected on the grounds that a single word could not be copywritten. Thus “the image has been marketed commercially on items such as clothing, mugs, and bags over which the artist has no control” (2). And rings apparently.
The ring I purchased was made by Charles Revson (of the Revlon Company) in 1970, and I was unable to discover whether Robert Indiana was in any way consulted or financially rewarded by this depiction. Highly unlikely, as Indiana left New York for Maine in 1970 due to the ensuing chaos inspired by LOVE – over which he had no control.
The sculpture owned by the Newfield’s was Robert Indiana’s first LOVE sculpture. It was built of COR-TEN steel, measuring 144” tall and 144” wide and weighing 9200 pounds. The sculpture was on display for the opening ceremony of the Newfield’s campus in 1970, then traveled a bit, landing back at the Eli Lilly’s corporate headquarters in Indianapolis. The company used “the sculpture as a backdrop for a TV commercial promoting the Lilly company; the ad intended to draw an analogy between the creativity of art and the creativity involved in research” (3) In 1975, the museum purchased the piece and it was displayed outdoors for years, being moved indoors after a restoration project in 2017. There are over 50 versions of the work worldwide created by Indiana (4).
Visiting the Newfield while in Indiana has become a cherished outing with granddaughter in tow. One memorable visit included airplane rides on the escalator, Steinway piano playing (she was remarkably dainty about it – plunking notes one at a time), and seeing the massive LOVE artwork. We were both in heaven. Art is completely about exposure, awareness and personal preference. You can’t know your preferences unless you see options – the “kiss/frog” dynamic. And the awareness of iconic images, which show up in myriad ways in popular culture, helps you recognize the references. Sharing my knowledge and love of art with granddaughter is a special type of love. It is important, however, to always let the little ones have a sense of self agency – if they don’t want to see/do something, it is important to honor that, regardless of your preferences. Love of Art should never be forced, simply offered.
Robert Indiana has a spot in Art History as the creator of the Pop Art generation’s icon: LOVE. And yet it seems wrong that he was unable to benefit financially from that creation. Yes, it is simply a word, but his design is certainly recognizable. While fame and financial success are important, is it true that all you need is love? The jury is still out on that one, though I will find a special home for my LOVE.
(1) https://www.robertindiana.com/artist
(2) https://www.theartstory.org/artist/indiana-robert/