Robert Indiana (1928-2018) - American Dream: 4 Square

Robert Indiana (1928-2018), 4 Square, 1966/1997.

Screenprint in color on sturdy Velin, 35.5 x 35.5 cm on 55.8 x 42.5 cm. From an edition of 395. Not signed or numbered.

Provenance: Private collection Netherlands, private collection Berlin.

Condition: Very good condition. Please examine the photos carefully, they are part of the condition report. Overall, very color-bright.

About
The American Dream is an iconic screenprint portfolio by the American Pop Art artist Robert Indiana, published in 1997 in a limited edition of 395 copies. The work brings together 30 powerful prints, including six hand-signed sheets, which visually condense Indiana’s central themes such as love, identity, consumption, patriotism, and American society.
The stylistically typical, color-intensive compositions with typography, numbers, and symbols make the portfolio a milestone of late Pop Art and a coveted collectible on the international art market. The edition was produced by the MFA Contemporary Atelier in California, additionally complemented by artist, publisher, and museum proofs.

Biography
The painter, graphic artist, and sculptor Robert Indiana is regarded as the most important representative of sign-art.
Robert Indiana was born as Robert Clark in 1928 in New Castle, Indiana. The boy was adopted shortly after birth by the Clark couple and grew up near Indiana. From 1958 he is known as Robert Indiana, originally Robert Clark.
Indiana established a studio at Coenties Slip on the Lower East Side. Ellsworth Kelly, Agnes Martin, James Rosenquist, Jack Youngerman, Ann Wilson, Charles Hinman, and Fred Mitchell also lived here — these artists shared a rejection of gestural Abstract Expressionism.
Particularly Ellsworth Kelly profoundly influenced Robert Indiana (Robert Clark) along this path. The young artist soon painted his first works in the hard-edge style (1957).
In 1960, Robert Indiana made a forward-looking discovery: he found stencils used for labeling crates and created from them the stencil-like lettering as the leitmotif of his works. The characteristic "sign-art" style of Robert Indiana emerges and soon also references other sources such as signage or jukeboxes. This brings Robert Indiana closer to Pop Art.
In the 1960s, Robert Indiana is extraordinarily successful. In particular his "LOVE" motif becomes a true icon of those years and was even transferred into a monumental sculpture in 1970.
Works by Robert Indiana can be seen in major international museums, for example the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, or the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Robert Indiana lived and worked until his death in 2018 on Vinalhaven Island, Maine.