Robert Indiana, born in 1938 in Gary, Indiana, was the most influential American artist of the 20th century. After graduating from the University of Illinois in Chicago, Indiana studied painting at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. He left New York for Paris in 1959 to study at the Académie Julian. He became a part of the Pop art movement
His early works were influenced by the pop culture icons of the 1950s. By 1966 he came to be identified with his own geometric style that was based on his own religious beliefs and included cross-shaped motifs. Indiana's later works are characterized by distorted images of familiar things or personal symbols that are often set off against a contrasting background.
The earliest of these were based on his own face and body and featured enlarged heads and elongated limbs. His later works include handprints and footprints on a cross, which symbolize man's spiritual journey and connection to God.
I realize that protest paintings are not exactly in vogue, but I've done many.Robert Indiana
I think of my peace paintings as one long poem, with each painting being a single stanza.Robert Indiana
I was the least Pop of all the Pop artists.Robert Indiana
