(born New Castle, Indiana, in 1928)
From the Set of Red Eye of Love (chop), 1988, stamped on the reverse Indiana Vinalhaven, oil on canvas, mounted on wooden panel, 183 x 183 cm

Robert Indiana, one of the preeminent figures in American art since the 1960s, has played a central role in the development of assemblage art, hard-edge painting and Pop art. A self proclaimed “American painter of signs”, Indiana has created a highly original body of work that explores American identity, personal history and the power of abstraction and language, establishing an important legacy that resonates in the work of many contemporary artists who make the written word a central element of their oeuvre. […]
The discovery of 19th century brass stencils led to the incorporation of brightly colored numbers and short emotionally charged words onto these sculptures as well as canvases, and became the basis of his new painterly vocabulary. […]
Although acknowledged as a leader of Pop, Indiana distinguished himself from his Pop peers by addressing important social and political issues and incorporating profound historical and literary references into his works […] as in this work, which is part of a series of paintings in large format inspired by Arnold Weinstein´s long-running 1961 off-Broadway satire The Red Eye of Love telling about an all-meat department store. […] The play follows the story of a man who dreamed of creating an eight story department store of meat, the largest of this kind in America, which served as a metaphor for America itself. The themes of commerce and consumption were a perfect fit for Indiana´s work, which often uses the words EAT and DIE to convey similar messages.
Indiana created following canvases in his signature sign style, advertising: CHOP, MEAT, BEEF, LAMB, PORK, RIBS, and VEAL.

Robert Indiana Webpage/ American Repertory Theater Webpage/ Tony Greco, Internet Movie Database/ Midgette, Anne: Arnold Weinstein, 78, a Poet and Collaborator on Operas, Is Dead”. In: New York Times, 6 September 2005

From the Schumacher Collection Part I