11.17.24: LOVE … all around

The is a photo of a LOVE sculpture.

Notice that I said “a” LOVE sculpture, not “the” LOVE sculpture.

That’s because I’ve found through my travels that LOVE is everywhere … well, almost everywhere.

Artist Robert Indiana created the LOVE image in 1964 on a card he sent to friends in the art community. The following year he was invited to propose artwork for New York’s Museum of Modern Art’s Christmas card. He submitted a number of versions of the LOVE image in various color combinations. MoMA selected the most intense combination — red, blue and green — which became one of the most popular cards ever offered by the museum.

In 1966, Indiana created his first LOVE sculpture in aluminum.

Today, LOVE is all around.

I photographed this LOVE sculpture in Philadelphia’s LOVE Park (officially named John F. Kennedy Plaza) about a block from the Philadelphia city hall. I liked how the sculpture stood out in front of the fountain and between buildings.

The Philadelphia LOVE sculpture was first placed in the plaza in 1976 as part of the United States' Bicentennial celebration. It was removed in 1978 but the sculpture was missed by the public. Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr., the chairman of Philadelphia Art Commission, bought the sculpture in 1978 and permanently placed it in the plaza.

But I’ve seen LOVE sculptures in various languages in New York, San Francisco, Washington D.C., New Orleans, Indianapolis and London. There are many more. Wikipedia has a list showing about 80 locations, but there may still be even more. I’m not sure anyone has an official count.

The artwork has been used on T-shirts, posters, prints … heck, the artwork was even used as a US postage stamp in 1973, with more than 425 million LOVE stamps printed. 

It’s about as ubiquitous as a piece of art can be, although Harvey Ross Ball’s smiley face and Milton Glaser’s “I ♥︎ NY”  probably lead the art world in ubiquitousness.

LOVE Park statue and fountain in LOVE Park (officially named John F. Kennedy Plaza), Philadelphia.