Robert Indiana was born in New Castle, Indiana, in 1928. His family name was Clark which he later changed, taking the name of his home state. After studying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Indiana moved to New York where he quickly made a name for himself.

In 1961 the Museum of Modern Art, New York, acquired a painting, and in 1966 his 'LOVE show' opened at the Stable Gallery, the start of a long association with the LOVE image which has been realised in many different media. In 1966 he had exhibitions in the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, the Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld and the W�rttembergische Kunstverein, Stuttgart. He was represented at the Documenta, Kassel (1968). In 1998 a retrospective exhibition opened at the Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain, in Nice, solo exhibitions were held at the Paul Kasmin Gallery in New York (2003, 2004).