AMOR

conceived 1998, fabricated 2006

Robert Indiana

Artist, American, 1928 - 2018

Four deep, three-dimensional letters spell out the word AMOR in this free-standing sculpture, with the A and M stacked on top of the O and R to create a square on a low black platform. The letters are coral red with butter-yellow undersides. The elongated, oval-shaped opening within the circular letter O is angled 45 degrees, toward the M at the upper right. We stand slightly to the left in this photograph so we can see the deep sides of the letters. The sculpture is displayed out-of-doors with trees and a tall black fence in the background and plantings around the base.
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Born in New Castle, Indiana in 1928, Robert Clark changed his last name to the state of his birth in 1958, signifying his strong identification with American culture as well as his urge for self-invention.   He came to prominence during the heyday of Pop art in the 1960s with paintings and sculptures that combined the signage of advertising with the blocky geometries of abstraction. A play on Indiana's famous LOVE sculpture, AMOR is constructed from red and yellow polychrome aluminum.  It is the first sculpture by Indiana to enter the Gallery's collection.

Indiana originally conceived the familiar "Love" graphic in drawings, paintings, and sculptures between 1964 and 1966. The first sculptural version was displayed at an exhibition at the Stable Gallery in Manhattan in 1966, and the artist continued working with the motif for many years. The image became most widely known through a commission for a Museum of Modern Art card in 1965 and the 8-cent "Love" stamp issued in 1973 by the United States Postal Service. It became an emblem of the 1970s in the U.S., associated with youth-driven counter-culture during the Vietnam conflict.

Indiana's seminal design, with its distinctively inclined "O," has been translated into several languages, materials, and colors.  This Spanish (or possibly Latin) example made its first appearance on a plaza in Madrid in 2006.


Artwork overview

  • Medium

    polychrome aluminum

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Simon and Gillian Salama-Caro in memory of Ruth Klausner

  • Dimensions

    overall: 243.84 × 243.84 × 121.92 cm (96 × 96 × 48 in.)
    base: 16.51 × 246.38 × 127 cm (6 1/2 × 97 × 50 in.)
    overall with base: 260.35 × 246.38 × 127 cm (102 1/2 × 97 × 50 in.)
    gross weight (sculpture): 684.932 kg (1510 lb.)
    gross weight (base): 99.791 kg (220 lb.)

  • Accession

    2012.27.1

  • Copyright

    ©2013 Morgan Art Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

More About this Artwork

Article:  15 LGBTQ+ Artists to Know

Discover the lives of 15 LGBTQ+ artists and their art, much of which you can see at the National Gallery.


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Simon and Gillian Salama-Caro, New York; gift 2012 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2006

  • Robert Indiana, outdoor exhibition on the Paseo de Recoletos and Paseo del Prado, Madrid, 2006, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2007

  • Robert Indiana: Gran Via Marqués del Turia, Valencia, 2007.

  • Robert Indiana: Gran Via Don Diego López de Haro, Bilbao, 2007.

Bibliography

2014

  • Cooper, Harry. "Robert Indiana, Amor." National Gallery of Art Bulletin no. 50 (Spring 2014): 27-28, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q63864390


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