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Star

1960–62

Images

A 76 by 18 by 13 inch sculpture consisting of a wooden beam with a tenon on a wooden base. Four iron wheels have been affixed to both the right and left sides of the sculpture, a white star has been painted between each set up wheels. White numbers, from one through five, have been painted down the front, starting with the number 5 above the top star, with the numbers counting downwards, 4, 3, and 2 appearing between stars and 1 below the bottom star. The top of the sculpture, above the number five, has been painted white, and contains the work's stenciled title, "Star."

Star

1960–62

Gesso, oil, and iron and wooden wheels on wood

76 x 18 x 13 in. (193 × 45.7 × 33 cm)

Buffalo AKG Art Museum, New York. Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1963

 

Photo: Courtesy of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, New York; Artwork: © Morgan Art Foundation Ltd./Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Detail from Robert Indiana's journal entry for June 23, 1962 including a sketch of the sculpture Star

Detail from Robert Indiana's journal entry for June 23, 1962

 

Courtesy Star of Hope Foundation, Vinalhaven, Maine

Robert Indiana with Star (1960–62) in his Coenties Slip studio, New York, ca. 1962,  

Robert Indiana with Star (1960–62) in his Coenties Slip studio, New York, ca. 1962

 

Photo: John Ardoin

Visitors examining Star (1960–62) in Mixed Media and Pop Art, at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, November 19–December 15, 1963,  

Visitors examining Star (1960–62) in Mixed Media and Pop Art, at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, November 19–December 15, 1963

 

Photograhper unknown, published in Buffalo (N.Y.) Evening News, November 19, 1963, p. 44.

Installation view of Robert Indiana: A Sculpture Retrospective, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, June 16–September 23, 2018,  

Installation view of Robert Indiana: A Sculpture Retrospective, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, June 16–September 23, 2018

 

Photo: Tom Powel Imaging

Description

Donald B. Goodall: Well, the found object in the herms.

Robert Indiana: It’s archaeological. Oh, there’s definite traces of our history and civilization. These pieces of wood served a very peculiar function on the waterfront in New York. Archaeologically they’re very valid. They’re a piece in a jigsaw puzzle and nobody except [Mark] Di Suvero and myself decided to save them at first, and he’s done so in a much different manner. These gorgeous pieces of wood were lying around for anybody to take and, as it turned out, very few people did.

 

Donald B. Goodall, “Conversations with Robert Indiana,” Robert L. B. Tobin, William Katz, and Donald B. Goodall, Robert Indiana (Austin: University of Texas, 1977), p. 25.