Born Robert Earl Clark in Newcastle, Indiana, in 1928, the famed “Love” artist changed his name in 1958 not long after moving to New York City—a way to pay homage to his home state, but also to help make him stand out in the art scene. And that he did: at his death in 2018, Robert Indiana held a firm spot in the art-historical continuum. The “sign painter” Pop artist had achieved international fame for his paintings, prints, and sculpture. The Isolation Artist: Scandal, Deception, and the Last Days of Robert Indiana - By Bob Keyes. Source: Island Institute.org.

At times the book reads like a police procedural—cooked books, tampering with evidence, questions about the artist’s living conditions, even foul play: Indiana’s body was briskly removed from the island just days after a lawsuit had been filed against him by the Morgan Art Foundation for breach of contract.

Unlike, say, the famous Brooke Astor case, which also had its share of twists and turns—and accusations of elder abuse—there were few high-profile friends and/or celebrities to question Indiana’s treatment. That said, the artist had his champions, among them, art historian John Wilmerding, who wrote or co-wrote several books on the artist, including The Essential Robert Indiana (2013). As someone who knew the work intimately, Wilmerding smelled forgery in some of the later work, including a series that featured Bob Dylan lyrics, but he also recognized that Indiana “was his own undoing.”

The U.S. Postal Service recently released its latest iteration of its “Love” stamp, a series started in 1973 with Indiana’s famous design (he was paid a $1,000 fee). There is enormous irony that the artist best known for his interpretations of that four-letter word ended up for the most part unloved. Indiana’s story is, in Keyes’s words, “a tragedy of Shakespearean machinations,” but it is also a tale of ego, eccentricity, and enmity. You’ll be shaking your head by the end.

The Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland is currently showing “Robert Indiana: The Hartley Elegies,” 10 large-scale silkscreen prints from the series made between 1989 and 1994. The show runs through Jan. 2, 2022.

This review written by Carl Little who writes about art for several publications, including Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors. He lives on Mount Desert Island.