The Essential Robert Indiana by Martin Krause and John Wilmerding’s is a coffee table book covering all aspects of Robert Indiana and his iconic works. Over 40 full color plates of the works offer stunning images to accompany the text. Each author writes an introduction to the book. Amazingly enough, the two introductions don’t overlap very much. Krause’s introduction centers on the autobiographical character of Indiana’s art. Wilmerding’s introduction focuses more on the artistic qualities.
Born Robert Clark in 1928 in New Castle, Indiana, he lived in 21 houses in the Indianapolis area before he graduated from Tech High School. The book explains the influence of his Hoosier roots on his work. Learn about why so many works are the colors of Phillips 66 signs and feature the number “66.” There is also an explanation behind many of the other signs and words in his paintings and prints. Several of his paintings are called “Autoportraits.” The puzzles of these paintings are fully explained. The artist honored his Hoosier roots by officially changing his name to Robert Indiana.
This book was written to accompany a special exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It is particularly topical now as Robert Indiana is one of the featured artists in the “19 Stars of Indiana” at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Krause was a curator and conservator at the Indianapolis Museum of Art from 1979 till recently. Wilmerding was the Sarofim Professor of American Art, Emeritus at Princeton University.
The book is available at Bookmamas at the very competitive price of $25.
