Iconic artwork in Philadelphia

Feel the love at the Philadelphia’s best-known piece of public art. It’s a fitting artwork for the City of Brotherly Love – as the city is also known.

Discover the iconic Robert Indiana sculpture in John F. Kennedy Plaza – unsurprisingly nicknamed the ‘Love Park’. Hop-off the Philadelphia bus tour as it passes by and take a few snaps as you stand next to this photogenic sculpture.

A city that fell in love

The LOVE Sculpture was initially planned as a temporary installation back in 1976 and was briefly removed in 1978. But the residents of Philadelphia had already fallen in love with it. So the Philadelphia Art Council purchased the artwork and had it permanently reinstated.

Conceived during the Vietnam War, Indiana’s sculpture was heralded as a symbol of peace. This Philadelphia landmark remains one of the most recognizable and celebrated works within the Pop Art movement.

Other interesting facts about The LOVE Sculpture

  • The original image was used as a print for a Museum of Modern Art Christmas card in 1964
  • The LOVE image was also used on a US postage stamp
  • The LOVE Sculpture was originally displayed in Indiana at the Indianapolis Museum of Art
  • The sculpture is made from COR-TEN steel and is painted red, green and blue
  • Various copies have been made, with translated versions now existing in Hebrew, Chinese, Italian and Spanish.