Robert Indiana, LOVE (the original), 39, Sheehan (signed and inscribed by the artist at his 2 Spring Street studio), 1967

Robert Indiana

LOVE (the original), 39, Sheehan (signed and inscribed by the artist), 1967

Silkscreen on Buckeye Cover Paper

Hand signed and uniquely inscribed with dateline by Robert Indiana; bears his official copyright, name and date on the back (see photos)

This original 1967 Robert Indiana LOVE was uniquely signed, dated and inscribed by Robert Indiana at his famous residence and studio at 2 Spring Street off the Bowery - on October 17, 1968.

This work is elegantly floated and framed in a museum quality wood frame with UV plexiglass. The back of the frame has a specially created die-cut window revealing Robert Indiana's signature, copyright, dateline and inscription.

Measurements:
Frame:
37.5 x 37.5 x 2 inches
Print:
33.5 x 33.5 inches

Inscription:
For Pat, My Very Best
At 2 Spring off the Bowery
Bob Indiana 17.X.'68

Bears the artist's official copyright and date stamped 1967

This is an extremely rare and much coveted hand-signed, dated, inscribed and copyrighted proof of the original most iconic LOVE silkscreen created in 1967 by the legendary artist Robert Indiana. The original is, of course, the most classic and desirable, of the entire LOVE series - now one of the most popular images in the world. It is based on the painting LOVE from 1966, at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana. According to the catalogue that accompanied a 1969 Robert Indiana Graphics exhibition featuring another example of this 1967 silkscreen: "This is the basic LOVE with the colors of 'Earth' and 'Sky' transposed, which becomes the 'Lake Love' (since the blue is contained within the o) as opposed to the 'Sky Love.'" For true fans, collectors and dealers of Robert Indiana's works on paper, if you are seeking the original signed Sixties LOVE screenprint, this is it.

Originally designed as a Christmas card commissioned by The Museum of Modern Art in 1965, LOVE has appeared in prints, paintings, sculptures, banners, rings, tapestries, and stamps. As the Masterworks catalogue of the Museum of Modern Art, which owns an impression of this historic print, notes, "Full of erotic, religious, autobiographical, and political underpinnings—especially when it was co-opted as an emblem of 1960s idealism— LOVE is both accessible and complex in meaning." (Deborah Wye, p. 166)
This very image was chosen as the cover image for the Catalogue Raisonne of Robert Indiana's prints (Sheehan, 1991). It was also chosen to represent the artist at the historic 4. documenta Kassel Exhibition of 1968. Indeed, it is one of the most recognizable Pop Art prints ever created.
There was a larger signed edition of 250 of this 1967 work with full margins. However, separately, Robert Indiana also created this more dramatic version without margins of which only a few were signed. This is one of them. In fact, he had intended to create this version, printed to the edges of the sheet, in an unsigned version of 2,275 to be affordable and for the masses. From that larger, unsigned edition, Indiana hand signed only a few proofs, including this one piece (sometimes annotated AP, according to Sheehan) - hand-signed and stamped by the artist with his unique copyright - and not intended to be mass marketed.
A dazzling impression, this is a chance to own a piece of Pop Art history!

Published by Multiples, Inc., New York . Printed by Sirocco Screenprinters, New Haven, Connecticut, under the supervision of Ives-Sillman, Hamd, pub.
Bibliography:

Robert Indiana Prints: A Catalogue Raisonne, 1951-1991, plate 39, page 28 Deborah Wye, Artists and Prints: Masterworks from The Museum of Modern Art, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2004, p. 166 4. documenta Kassel Catalogue, 1968, Germany The Catalogue, "Robert Indiana Graphics", Saint Mary's College, 1969, 1st Edition, Plate 10 Pop Impressions: Prints and Multiples from the Museum of Modern Art, Wendy Weitman, MoMA, Distributed by Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1999 1st Edition, page 44