Pop artist Robert Indiana created 'LOVE' and 'HOPE' across a 60 year career

Robert Indiana spent most of the last three decades of his life alone. Here, he can be seen in the kitchen of his Victorian home on Vinalhaven, an island off of the Maine coast. A patron bought him the house in 1978. Indiana passed away on May 19.

"Imperial Love" is one of the many sculptures from the artist's "LOVE" series. "LOVE" was initially a commissioned work for a Christmas card for the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1966, it became a favorite theme of Indiana's art. Workers here install the sculpture in front of Berlin's Hamburger Bahnhof museum.

In 2016, the "LOVE" sculpture was part of an exhibition in Saint Petersburg's Marble Palace in the Russian State Museum titled "To Russia With Love." The retrospective only featured one "LOVE" sculpture and focused on a number of works created throughout Indiana's storied 60 year career that paved the way for later pop artists.

The sculpture titled "Ahava", the Hebrew word for Love, was created in 1977 and is located in the sculpture garden of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The museum and sculpture are perched on a hill above the city where people enjoy flying kites.

In 2006, Indiana's painting "LOVE", which was one of the first works in the series, was displayed in Museum Ludwig in Cologne as part of the exhibition, "The Eighth Field" aiming to look beyond the "heterosexual mainstream." It hanged in front of wallpaper created in 1988 with the word "AIDS" written in a typical Pop Art style.

Robert Indiana was born on September 13, 1928 in New Castle, Indiana. His name given at birth was Robert Clark, but in 1959 he named himself after his home state. This "LOVE" sculpture was built in front of the Indiana Museum of Art in honor of Robert Indiana.

In 2008, as Barack Obama ran for US president, Indiana created the sculpture titled "HOPE" in the style of his "LOVE." It was created in honor of the candidate and his message of change. The lettering was widely marketed and earned more than a million dollars for Obama's campaign. "I wanted to help him," Indiana said of the work.

Everyone knows this lettering, but hardly anyone knows the artist. Since the copyright to the font was placed on the original Museum of Modern Art Christmas card, anyone could adapt or copy Indiana's iconic lettering for decades without giving him credit.