Robert Indiana, ‘Numbers Suite: "Eight"’, 1968, Cerbera Gallery

Robert Indiana
Title: Eight
Medium: Original lithograph on paper
Year: 1968
Edition: From the limited edition of 2500
Publisher: Edition Domberger Stuttgart
Suite: "Numbers"
Dimensions: 10 x 8.25 inches

Early critics read Indiana's work like a riddle; even in a practice that was rooted in numerical divination and the ancient I Ching, this sculpture pays the most endless dividends. Combinations and permutations of its arrangement or installation are infinite. Indiana believed that numbers held life's hidden secrets and that "everyone kind of drifts into some projection of their own experience." NUMBERS ONE through ZERO is then exactly like Brancusi's mirror; the progression of familiar shapes portrays life's endless emotions. For example, ONE's triumphant combination of red and blue is also a signifier for birth's physical tumult; the white and blue on FIVE evoke a transition from adolescence; SEVEN's autumnal hues gently remind of a forthcoming sunset; NINE, in yellow and black, warns of an impending end.

NUMBERS' labyrinth of references might even call to mind the masterful work of Renaissance masters; however, no codex is needed. Each arrangement of this sculpture that reflects back to the viewer will add up correctly.

Image rights: Cerbera Gallery, Inc.

Publisher: Edition Domberger Stuttgart (Germany)

Private Collection Philadelphia, PA

About Robert Indiana

One of the central figures of the Pop Art movement, Robert Indiana takes his inspiration from commercial signs, claiming: “There are more signs than trees in America. There are more signs than leaves. So I think of myself as a painter of American landscape.” In his paintings, sculptures, and prints, he mimics and re-arranges the words and numbers of a myriad of signs, including the Phillips 66 gas station logo and the “Yield” traffic sign. He is most famous for his “LOVE” paintings and sculptures, first produced in the 1960s. Creating a block out of the word—with the “L” and the “O” set atop the “V” and the “E”—Indiana has effectively inserted his own sign into the mix.

American, 1928-2018, New Castle, IN, United States, based in New York, NY, United States