Tekel ("Brothers" Odd Fellows) is one of a set of totem-like heads that Indiana painted in the mid-1950s. A figurative painting created early in the artist’s career, before he developed his signature hard-edge style, it reflects the influence of Jean Dubuffet and Byzantine art. Indiana revisited this painting in 1989 adding the word “Tekel” above the head on the left side. Tekel comes from a passage in the Old Testament Book of Daniel. The passage tells of God’s handwriting on the wall, of his message “Mene, Mene Tekel, Upharsin,” which warned of doom for the kingdom of Belshazzar. The “Odd Fellows” of the title refers to the fraternal organization, the International Order of Oddfellows, and to Indiana's home the Star of Hope, in Vinalhaven, Maine, which was built in 1886 as a lodge for the organization.
