Skip to content

Hero

1992

Images

A 107 by 46 by 24 inch sculpture consisting of a wooden beam with a haunched tenon on a wooden base. The work's title, "Hero," appears in stenciled letters against a white base across the bottom front of the beam. A long weathered piece of wood has been affixed to the front of the sculpture, The top section of the piece of wood is painted white with a green circle, and a white square has been painted towards the bottom of the affixed piece of wood. Nails are arranged in a circular pattern within the square. A flat piece of metal has been affixed to the upper left and right sides of the sculpture.

Hero

1992

Gesso, oil, wood, and iron on wood

107 × 46 × 24 in. (271.8 × 116.8 × 61 cm)

 

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

The verso of the sculpture Hero. It is signed and dated "Indiana 92" in white stenciled letters across the bottom of the beam. A long, thin piece of wood has been affixed to the center. It is been painted with a red band and two white rectangular pieces of wood, each with a row of nails, have been affixed to it.

Verso

Image of triptych, a sculpture consisting of three flat painted wooden elements

Triptych
1960
Gesso, oil, and iron on wood
This work no longer exists. The three elements were incorporated into two separate sculptures completed in the 1980s/1990s.

 

Photo: Courtesy of Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C; Artwork: © Star of Hope Foundation, Vinalhaven, Maine

Description

Hero is one of the constructions that Indiana made in Vinalhaven, Maine. Affixed to the front and back of the sculpture are the left and right elements of an earlier work, Triptych (1960), which was exhibited in Wood Works: Constructions by Robert Indiana, at the National Museum of American Art (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum), Washington, D.C., May 1–September 3, 1984. Triptych was composed of three wall constructions made in early 1960.