Robert Indiana and the Star of Hope

Perhaps best known for his iconic paintings and sculptures of LOVE, also featured on a U.S. postage stamp, and HOPE, created in support of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, Robert Indiana (b. 1928) has been living and working in Maine since 1978. The Star of Hope, his year-round home and studio on the island of Vinalhaven, is a former late 19th-century Odd Fellows lodge listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Robert Indiana and the Star of Hopeis both a retrospective of the artist's work based on his own holdings, and an unprecedented study of his living and working space. His studio is a home, museum, archive, and gallery, all set within the historic interiors of the former Odd Fellows lodge. This book offers a unique examination of how Indiana's work has unfolded since his move to Vinalhaven and includes works from his student days to storied sculptures such as EAT, prematurely removed from the 1964 New York World's Fair and not exhibited since.

Michael K. Komanecky is the Interim Director and Chief Curator of the Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine.