Robert Indiana (born Robert Clark) was an American artist, most famously associated with the Pop Art movement.
Indiana served three years in the US army before beginning his artistic studies. Between 1949 and 1954 he attended the Art Institute of Chicago, the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine and Edinburgh University and the Edinburgh College of Art.
He settled in New York City in 1954, where he developed his bold, bright iconic style.
Robert Indiana often used short, simple words such as 'Eat' and 'Hug' to express his themes. He used two main mediums, stainless steel and silk screen paper. He's also designed theatrical sets and costumes.
His iconic image LOVE was first created in 1964 in the form of a card which he sent to several friends in the art world. In 1965 Indiana was invited to propose an artwork to be featured on the Museum of Modern Art's annual Christmas card. Indiana submitted several 12" square oil on canvas variations based on his LOVE image, and the museum selected the vibrant red, blue and green version for their card. It became the most popular card the museum has ever offered. Indiana continued to develop his LOVE series into sculptures, screenprints, paintings and posters.
The US postal service used it as the basis for a stamp in 1973 and Indiana used the same graphic idea for reproductions that replaced 'Love' with the word 'Hope' as a fundraiser for Barak Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. This project raised more than $1,000,000.