What is love? For some people it’s an abstract concept, for others it’s a feeling. However, in the past few decades, love has taken on an additional meaning—in the form of a sculpture by Robert Indiana. Robert Indiana, a Midwestern American with years of travel under his belt, has created a plethora of artwork. Some pieces—like the Love statue— have become famous symbols for citizens across the world, while others such as Calumet have taken a back seat when associated with the artist. However, pieces like Calumet depend on Indiana’s other pieces (ie. Love) for their public reception. Without Love, Calumet’s public reception would be drastically different., because Calumet’s public reception relies directly on Indiana’s past and the reception…show more content… Pop art developed as a direct reaction to the, “brooding intellectual and emotional aspects of abstract expressionism”. Many pop art artist such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein helped fuel the pop art movement into the major modern art period it is today. Pop art began being characterized as, “commentary on the mass production culture and the banality of everyday life”. Pop art was characterized by its use of modern objects and advertisements to form art that embodied both the object itself and the overarching art work. As a result of this style of artwork, the term pop art was formed, because the artwork embodied the popular culture of the day. One of Andy Warhol’s most famous pop art exhibits revolved around Campbell’s soup cans and Roy Lichtenstein became notorious for his “comic book style” art work which embodied the print of comic books into various pieces of art. Other artists, like Robert Indiana, also helped develop the pop art movement through their various exhibits. Pop art which began simply as a reaction to the oppression of other styles of art, eventually evolved into a critically acclaimed modern form of…show more content… The acquisition of Calumet came about as a direct result of the Rose Art Museum founding director Sam Hunter. After receiving a generous donation from Leon Mnuchin and his wife, Harriet Gevirtz-Mnuchin, that totaled $50,000. The gift was given with explicit directions to spend no more than $5,000 on any one piece of art. The fund became known as the Gevirtz-Mnuchin Purchase Fund in order to pay homage to the monetary contributors. Using these funds and with the definite rule on how much he was to spend on each piece of art, Hunter set off to New York, America’s premier art scene, to purchase art for the museum. With the money, Sam Hunter was able to purchase a vast amount of work from young, emerging artists, many of which are now staples in the pop art industry. With works from Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Marisol, and many other now pertinent artists, Hunter acquired (at an amazing rate) a large amount of artistic genius using only a small amount of funds. One of Hunter’s purchases, which was—as previously stated—under $5,000, was the red and yellow oil painting by Robert Indiana. Several of the original pieces of art purchased by Hunter in late 1962/early 1963 now hang on exhibition in the Rose Art Museum, representing the East coast portion of the current exhibit LA/MA: ‘60s Pop from Both Coasts. This exhibit offers unique pieces of art from both the East and
