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Flagellant

1963/1969

Images

A 63 1/3 inch high wooden column on a wooden base. The top of the column has been painted white, with the work's title, Flagellant, painted in black stenciled letters. Below the title is a red band, where four long ropes with shackles have been attached to the work.

Flagellant

1963/1969

Gesso, oil, iron, and rope on wood

H. 63 1/2 in. (161.3 cm)

Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Gift of The Tobin Foundation for Theatre Arts in honor of the close personal friendship between Robert L. B. Tobin and Robert Indiana

 

Artwork: © Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Installation view of Robert indiana: A Legacy of Love, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, October 15, 2020–January 24, 2021, with Flagellant (1963/1969) at the far left

Installation view of Robert indiana: A Legacy of Love, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, October 15, 2020–January 24, 2021, with Flagellant (1963/1969) at the far left

Description

There’s one important thing about FLAGELLANT–it’s not one of the herms, it’s a free standing statue. The ropes are lying quietly on the floor, but there’s always the danger that it will get into motion somehow and, well, flagellate or be used to flagellate.

— Robert Indiana

Colin Sargent, "Interview," Greater Portland (Me.) (Winter 1984), p. 15.

 

Flagellant is currently on display in Robert Indiana: The Sweet Mystery, at the Procuratie Vecchie, Venice.