Robert Indiana’s LOVE (1996) represents one of the most enduring and universally recognized images of postwar American art, distilling the artist’s exploration of language, symbolism, and popular culture into a deceptively simple visual form. Originally conceived in the early 1960s, the LOVE motif—with its stacked letters and tilted “O”—became Indiana’s most iconic contribution to the visual vocabulary of Pop Art. The 1996 screenprint reaffirms the image’s continued relevance, demonstrating Indiana’s commitment to repetition and variation as a means of cultural and conceptual inquiry.

Executed in screenprint, a medium closely aligned with Pop Art’s embrace of mechanical reproduction and mass communication, this work underscores Indiana’s interest in the tension between individuality and universality. The bold typography, flat color fields, and symmetrical composition recall commercial signage and advertising, yet the word “LOVE” carries layered meanings that extend beyond sentimentality. For Indiana, the term functioned as both a personal and philosophical statement, rooted in his upbringing within the Christian Science faith and his fascination with the moral and emotional weight of simple words.

By 1996, LOVE had transcended its origins to become a global symbol, reproduced across media and translated into multiple languages. This later screenprint situates the image within Indiana’s mature practice, where the motif operates less as a singular artwork and more as a cultural signifier—simultaneously intimate and monumental. As such, LOVE stands as a defining example of Indiana’s ability to transform language into form, and to elevate a single word into an enduring emblem of modern visual culture.

Robert Indiana LOVE, 1996 is Color screen print on A.N.W. Crestwood Museum Edition paper. This work is hand-signed by Robert Indiana (Indiana, 1928 - Maine, 2018) in pencil in the lower right and is numbered from the edition of 200 in the lower left.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Robert Indiana LOVE, 1996 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonné and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the sale of the work).

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:

Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Robert Indiana LOVE, 1996 is presented in a complementary moulding and optical grade Plexiglas.