Sculptpedia Statues, Busts and Sculptures Park sculptures and installations Ancient World & Antiquity Middle Ages & Renaissance Marble & Other Stones Bronze & Other Metals

Love

Love is a pop art image by American artist Robert Indiana, shown as the letters L and O stacked over V and E in bold Didone type, with the O tilted rightward at a 45° angle. First created in 1964 as a card sent to friends and acquaintances in the art world, it later became a widely known artwork. In 1965, Indiana was asked to propose a design for the Museum of Modern Art’s annual Christmas card, and the museum chose his red, blue, and green variation. He later made the image into sculpture, including a first aluminum version in 1966 and a monumental Cor-Ten steel sculpture in 1970.

The LOVE sculpture in Chelsea, New York, with a blue L and white tilted LO and VE letters accented in red and brown.
The LOVE sculpture stands in the foreground, with its stacked letters visible against the Chelsea backdrop.
September 2019 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Red LOVE sculpture with a tilted O stands in front of a modern stone and glass building, surrounded by flowerbeds and greenery.
The LOVE sculpture is displayed outside a modern building, framed by colorful plantings and foliage.
July 2025 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Bright red LOVE sculpture with a tilted O on a concrete base in Bustos, Bulacan.
The bright red LOVE sculpture stands on a concrete base in Bustos, Bulacan.
January 2021 © · CC0
The Love sculpture is seen outdoors through large museum windows beside the water under a cloudy sky.
The Love sculpture stands outside the Milwaukee Art Museum, visible through the café windows.
July 2022 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
A white LOVE sign with a tilted O held above a crowd at a nighttime protest.
A LOVE sign is raised above the crowd during a nighttime protest.
February 2017 © · CC BY-SA 4.0

Identification

TitleLove
TypePop art image and sculpture

Historical context

First print contextPrinted in 1966 as part of an exhibition poster for Stable Gallery for Indiana's LOVE show
First exhibition1970
Monumental sculpture date1970
First sculpture date1966
Oil painting date1966
Screenprint date1967
OriginCreated as a Christmas card for the Museum of Modern Art in New York; first appeared in a postcard made for MoMA in 1965
Design year1964
First related paintings4-Star Love (1961) and Love Is God (1964)

Creator

Collaboration on first sculptureRobert Indiana worked with Marian Goodman of Multiples, Inc.
ArtistRobert Indiana
Artist nationalityAmerican

Discovery and provenance

Relationship with Ellsworth KellyIndiana and Ellsworth Kelly had a rocky relationship, and Indiana had been working on word paintings; the two exchanged postcard-size sketches
Iconography originFirst appeared in a series of poems written in 1958, where Indiana stacked "LO" and "VE" on top of one another
Museum of Modern Art Christmas cardSelected to appear on MoMA's annual Christmas card in 1965; Indiana said it was the museum's most profitable Christmas card
Card recognitionOne of the most popular cards the Museum of Modern Art has ever offered
Color inspirationInspired by the red and green of a Phillips 66 gas station sign against a blue Hoosier sky; the colors may also have been inspired by Ellsworth Kelly's Red Blue Green (1963)

Physical characteristics

Screenprint dimensions34 x 34 inches
Oil painting dimensions72 x 72 inches
Iconic featureThe tilted O became an iconic Pop Art image
DesignLetters L and O placed over V and E in bold Didone type, with the O slanted rightward at a 45° angle
CompositionThe four letters forming the word "Love"

Materials

Screenprint materialSerigraph / silk screen
Monumental sculpture materialCor-Ten steel
Other sculpture materialSteel
First sculpture materialAluminum

Location and ownership

Italian versionAmor, displayed in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan
Stamp unveiling locationPhiladelphia Museum of Art
Hebrew versionAhava (Hebrew: אהבה), exhibited in the Sculpture Garden at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem
Monumental sculpture collectionIndianapolis Museum of Art permanent collection
Permanent displaySince 1975, part of the permanent exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art
Additional ownershipThe Indianapolis Museum of Art also owns one of the screenprints
Oil painting collectionIndianapolis Museum of Art permanent collection
Screenprint collectionMuseum of Modern Art permanent collection

History and restoration

First sculpture descriptionFirst monumental LOVE sculpture
ReproductionsThe sculpture has been widely reproduced and reinterpreted, including several foreign-language versions

Significance

Cultural significanceBecame a symbol of pop culture and has been repeatedly reproduced and reinterpreted
Meaning and interpretationDeborah Wye described the image as "full of erotic, religious, autobiographical, and political underpinnings" and "both accessible and complex in meaning"
USPS stampIn 1973, the USPS commissioned Indiana to design an eight-cent LOVE stamp released before Valentine's Day; 425 million were printed over the next two years

Other

Meaning of word"Love" means "amour" in English
1964 word-painting contextAccording to Susan Elizabeth Ryan, in 1964 LOVE had been a more explicit four-letter word beginning with F, with a second letter U tilted to the right
Artist quote on Kelly's influence"Ellsworth Kelly introduced me to Hard-Edge and was a great influence on my work, and is responsible for my being here"
Artist quote on Christmas card"It was the most profitable Christmas card the museum ever published."