Eat is one of a series of 12 x 11 inch Eat canvases and related For/Fork paintings. These works contain the word "eat" or "for" in the upper half of the canvas, and an image of a fork in the lower half.
Eat as a subject was tied to the artist's childhood memories. He noted that it was "more than a word. It is a sign you see on every road as you leave the big towns, and signs are important to me. . . . In the eyes of a child, a lighted sign can reflect all the wonders of the world. Besides, the word “eat” is reassuring, it means not only food but life. When a mother feeds her children, the process makes her indulgent, a giver of life, of love, of kindness." [1]
[1] Ninette Lyon, "Robert Indiana, Andy Warhol, a Second Fame: Good Food," Vogue (March 1, 1965), p. 184.