SALT LAKE CITY — Following months of preparations, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts is celebrating the LOVE of art with the debut of Robert Indiana's LOVE sculpture (Red Outside Blue Inside).
The iconic twentieth-century artwork now resides at the museum's south lawn near South Campus Drive. “I’ve always dreamed of sitting a major work of art on that corner,” said Gretchen Dietrich, UMFA’s Marcia and John Price executive director. “I think there’s no better way to help visitors find the museum than placing a very large, very recognizable, world-class sculpture there.”
The effort to bring the $4.5 million sculpture to campus was initiated by university donors and state leaders in part to highlight the role UMFA plays as Utah's public art museum.
Robert Indiana was an influential American artist associated with the Pop Art movement. He served in the United States Army Air Forces before studying at the Art Institute of Chicago.
His best-known work is his iconic LOVE images, first created in 1964. There are 86 iterations of Indiana's LOVE sculptures, but only nine were produced in the 12-by-12-by-6-foot parameters.
Prior to being installed at the museum, the sculpture was located on the corner of 55th Street and 6th Avenue in New York City for more than 20 years.
The sculpture was purchased jointly by the state of Utah as well as private donors, including: The Coburn Family Trust; Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation; John and Marcia Price Family Foundation; O.C. Tanner Company; George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation; and Zions Bank, which support UMFA and the University of Utah.
