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Chief

1962, cast 1991

Images

A 63 13/16 by 23 1/8 by 9 1/8 inch painted bronze sculpture of a beam with a haunched tenon, and on a base. The sculpture's title, "Chief," is painted in yellow stenciled letters against a red rectangular ground across the bottom of the work. Above the title a wheel is attached to the right and left sides of the sculpture, and a peg has been placed in the front of the sculpture, in between the wheels. At the top of the sculpture is a six pointed star. The top third of the right and sides of the sculpture are painted with diagonal red and yellow stripes, and the sides left and right sides of the tenon are painted red.

Chief

1962, cast 1991

Painted bronze

63 13/16 × 23 1/8 × 9 1/8 in. (162.1 × 58.7 × 23.1 cm)

Edition of eight plus two artist's proofs.

 

Photo: Courtesy of Walla Walla Foundry, Washington; Artwork: © Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

The right profile view of the herm Chief. Red and white danger stripes are visible in the top third of the sculpture, and a wheel is attached to the side, in the lower third of the work.

Right side

The left profile view of the herm Chief. Red and white danger stripes are visible in the top third of the sculpture, and a wheel is attached to the side, in the lower third of the work.

Left side

The verso of the bronze herm Chief. Red and yellow danger stripes occupy the top third of the verso. In the center of the danger stripes is a yellow numeral "8" in a red circle.

Verso

Description

Chief is a painted bronze rendition of Indiana’s herm Chief (1962), which was created as a pendant to the painting The Calumet (1961). The works reference Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "The Song of Hiawatha."

The bronze Chief was first exhibited in Robert Indiana: Early Sculpture, 1960–1962, at the Salama-Caro Gallery in London. Indiana considered bronze, along with marble, to be one of the noble materials in the tradition of European sculpture. Because of this, as well as the longevity of the material, the artist had long wanted to turn his herms into bronze. This dream was realized in 1991, when bronze versions of eight of Indiana’s early herms were created.