David Phillips is an example of Indiana’s early figurative work. In 1954, after finishing his studies at the University of Edinburgh, Indiana moved to London, where he enrolled in a seminar at the University of London and shared a studio in Hampstead with a sculptor. With the sculptor’s help, Indiana constructed an easel, and over the summer completed a number of portraits of his London friends. Among them was David Phillips, a poet who later became an art historian. Indiana recalled in a November 14, 1991, interview with Susan Elizabeth Ryan that it was Phillips, who toured around London in a motorcycle, who introduced him to the city.
