4-Star Love
1961
Oil on canvas
12 × 11 1/8 in. (30.5 × 28.3 cm)
Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Gift of Todd Brassner in memory of Doug Rosen (1999.7)
Photo: Courtesy of The Portland Museum of Art, Maine; Artwork: © Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Excerpt from one of Robert Indiana's January 1962 journal entries, exact date unknown
4-Star Love marks the first appearance of the word “love” in Indiana’s work. The four stars, stacked two over two echo the arrangement of orbs in one panel of the triptych Ra (1960) and the four stars of The American Dream, I (1960–61). The arrangement of the stars also anticipates the stacked letters of the artist’s signature LOVE paintings.