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The Ginkgo Ài

2006

Images

An 18 by 12 inch painting titled The Ginkgo Ai, consisting of a black double ginkgo leaf form against a gold background. The Mandarin character for Love, “Ài,” is rendered in red, in two different fonts, a simplified sans-serif at the top and a calligraphic font at the bottom.

The Ginkgo Ài

2006

Oil on canvas

18 × 11 7/8 in. (45.7 × 30.2 cm)

 

Photo: Marcel Meury; Artwork: © Star of Hope Foundation, Vinalhaven, Maine

Installation view of Robert Indiana, Ben Brown Fine Arts, Hong Kong, December 7, 2021–March 8, 2022. Left to right, Four Diamond Ping (2003), Ài (2002), The Ginkgo Ài (2008), The Ginkgo Ài (2008), Ài (2002), and LOVE (1966–2002)

Installation view of Robert Indiana, Ben Brown Fine Arts, Hong Kong, December 7, 2021–March 8, 2022. Left to right, Four Diamond Ping (2003), Ài (2002), The Ginkgo Ài (2008), The Ginkgo Ài (2008), Ài (2002), and LOVE (1966–2002)

Description

The Ginkgo Ài series was painted in 2006 and includes twelve small canvases. In each work the double-ginkgo form that first appeared in his work in 1957 is rendered in black on a gold ground and the Mandarin character for Love, “Ài,” is rendered in two different fonts, a simplified sans-serif at the top and a calligraphic font at the bottom.