Four Seasons of Hope (Gold) 2012

ROBERT INDIANA (1928-2018, American)

Four Seasons of Hope (Gold) 2012

complete set of colour screenprints (4)
66.0 x 66.0 cm (each image); 91.0 x 75.0 cm (each sheet); 94.0 x 80.0 cm
each signed and dated lower right: R Indiana '12
each numbered lower right: PP 6/7

published by American Image Art, New York
accompanied by original clothbound case
edition: Printer's Proof 6/7 (edition of 82)

Provenance:
The Estate of Robert Indiana, Maine
Private collection, New York
Private collection, Melbourne

Estimate: $30000 - 40000

Result Hammer: $44000

Robert Indiana was an influential American artist, best known for his bold, graphic works that blended the aesthetics of Pop Art and hard-edged Minimalism. Rising to fame with his iconic piece LOVE 1966, the simplified but powerful arrangement of letters became a global symbol of peace. His work explored themes of American identity, consumerism, and both the iconographic and semantic qualities of language. His aesthetic is defined by the billboard advertisements, posters, company logos, and military insignia that populated the everyday world of the early 1960s. Other words in his visual vocabulary included: EAT, JOY, DIE, HUG, often repeated over individual images to the point of mantra. Divorced from context, his capitalised, monosyllabic words shout out their auditory, graphical, and emotional qualities. We are compelled to ask ourselves what do these words mean? Are they commands? Commonplace signage? Or colourful text meant to evoke a feeling?

Inspired by the political rejuvenation of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, Indiana was drawn to the word ‘Hope,’ a key slogan of the movement. With his signature slanted ‘O’, Four Seasons of Hope (Gold) 2012 represents the cyclical nature of hope and the four seasons. By presenting hope in a seasonal framework, Indiana highlights its necessity in the human experience, reminding viewers that, even in times of dormancy, hope is an ever-present force that will eventually renew. The use of gradated and contrasting colour creates an eye-catching image and loosely suggests the different seasons. Bright, warm hues connote summer, and its sense of optimism and energy, while the cooler tones suggest the patience and resilience of winter. The mirrored gradients emanate horizontally from the centre, suggesting the tonal varieties of a horizon or sunset across the year.

In 2010, the original Four Seasons of Hope silkscreen-on-canvas paintings were commissioned for the prestigious Four Seasons Hotel exhibition program, held in the Seagram Building’s restaurant. The program has invited artists such as James Rosenquist (1933-2017), Frank Stella (1936-2024), and Mark Rothko (1903-1970), who famously withdrew. In an interview in 1974, during the height of the Vietnam War and Watergate Scandal, Indiana resents that ‘The American Dream has gone enormously sour…Given the war and what’s happening in Washington now, I think it is very difficult to be optimistic, innocent and naïve’.(1) However, his own creations reassure us that hope will continue to endure and to have trust that it will eventually be restored.

 Footnotes:

1. Robert Indiana, quoted in Tuchman, P., ‘Pop! Interviews with George Segal, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist and Robert Indiana’, ARTnews, New York, May 1974

Tim Marvin

Tim Marvin is an emerging curator and art historian based in Sydney. He has a Bachelor of Art Theory (Honours, First Class) from the University of New South Wales, and currently holds the position of gallery registrar at Sullivan + Strümpf, Sydney.

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