Love (image)

Love is a pop art image by American artist Robert Indiana. It consists of the letters L and O over the letters V and E in bold Didone type; the O is slanted sideways so that its oblong negative space creates a line leading to the V.

The image LOVE was first created in 1964 in the form of a card which Robert Indiana sent to several friends and acquaintances in the art world. In 1965, he was invited to propose an artwork to be featured on the Museum of Modern Art's annual Christmas card.^[1] Indiana submitted several 12” square oil on canvas variations based on his LOVE image. The museum selected the most intense color combination in red, blue, and green. It became one of the most popular cards the museum has ever offered.

A 34" x 34" screenprint of the image (1967) is in the MoMA permanent collection.^[2] A 72" x 72" oil painting of the image (1966) is in the permanent collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which also owns one of the screenprints.^[3] In 1966 Indiana worked with Marian Goodman of Multiples, Inc. to make his first LOVE sculpture in aluminum. In 1970, Indiana completed his first monumental LOVE sculpture in Cor-Ten steel, which is also in the collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.^[4]