Artist Robert Indiana, known for 'LOVE' series, dies at 89

News

Artist Robert Indiana, known for 'LOVE' series, dies at 89

2018-05-22 11:42 Last Updated At：18:38

Pop artist Robert Indiana, best known for his 1960s "LOVE" series, has died at his island home off the coast of Maine. He was 89.

Indiana died on Saturday from respiratory failure at his Victorian home in a converted Odd Fellows hall, a fraternal order lodge, where he had lived for years on Vinalhaven Island, said James Brannan, his attorney.

Friends had expressed concern for his well-being because the reclusive artist had not been heard from for some time. A lawsuit filed in New York City the day before his death suggested he was purposefully isolated by his caretakers.

Brannan declined to comment on the situation.

The artist's "LOVE" sculpture, in which the "L'' and a leaning "O'' sit atop the "V'' and the "E," is instantly recognizable worldwide. But he has created other works as well, and fashioned a "HOPE" design, similar to "LOVE," in honor of former President Barack Obama.

"In some ways he was perhaps seen as the proverbial one-hit wonder because 'LOVE' was so immensely iconic and immensely huge in pop culture. For better or for worse, it overshadowed some of his other contributions," said Dan Mills, the director at Bates College Museum of Art in Lewiston, Maine.

In his later years, he was known for living an increasingly reclusive life 15 miles (24 kilometers) off the mainland on Vinalhaven, where he moved in 1978.

Kathleen Rogers, a friend and former publicist, told The Associated Press that she was so concerned she contacted the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to investigate six to eight weeks ago.

Through tears, she said did not want Indiana to be remembered for shutting out friends and closing his studio.

"He was a better guy than he's been portrayed as being. He was reclusive, cantankerous and sometimes difficult. But he was a very loyal, loving man. He was the architect of love," she said.

A DHHS spokeswoman did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

As the story goes, Indiana, who was born in Indiana, settled in Maine after becoming disillusioned with the art scene in New York.

But he told The Associated Press in 2009 that he moved to his house — which a benefactor bought for him — when he needed a place to go after his lease ran out on his five-story studio and gallery in the Bowery section of New York City.

His desire for solitude was legendary.

He once stood up President Barack Obama at the White House. Another time he made a crew from NBC's "Today" show wait days before he would let them interview him. In 2014, he disappointed dozens of fans by failing to make an appearance outside his home for an event dubbed International HOPE Day, which was inspired by his creativity. Events were held in several locations around the world.

Although he created a wealth of art, the iconic "LOVE" tended to overshadow his other work.

Decades later, Indiana's other art took center stage in a 2013 exhibit, "Robert Indiana: Beyond Love," at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. "Well, that's taken a while," he quipped.

In Maine, Mills said he was inspired by the Whitney's efforts to produce a 2016 exhibition, "Robert Indiana: Now and Then." It was one of the last major shows focusing on Indiana's work, Mills said.

Israel has briefed US on plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of potential Rafah operation

2024-05-05 11:42 Last Updated At：11:51

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel this week briefed Biden administration officials on a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of a potential operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah aimed at rooting out Hamas militants, according to U.S. officials familiar with the talks.

The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity to speak about the sensitive exchange, said that the plan detailed by the Israelis did not change the U.S. administration’s view that moving forward with an operation in Rafah would put too many innocent Palestinian civilians at risk.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to carry out a military operation in Rafah despite warnings from President Joe Biden and other western officials that doing so would result in more civilian deaths and worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.

The Biden administration has said there could be consequences for Israel should it move forward with the operation without a credible plan to safeguard civilians.

“Absent such a plan, we can’t support a major military operation going into Rafah because the damage it would do is beyond what’s acceptable,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late Friday at the Sedona Forum, an event in Arizona hosted by the McCain Institute.

Some 1.5 million Palestinians have sheltered in the southern Gaza city as the territory has been ravaged by the war that began on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.

The United Nations humanitarian aid agency on Friday said that hundreds of thousands of people would be “at imminent risk of death” if Israel moves forward with the Rafah assault. The border city is a critical entry point for humanitarian aid and is filled with displaced Palestinians, many in densely packed tent camps.

The officials added that the evacuation plan that the Israelis briefed was not finalized and both sides agreed to keep discussing the matter.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday that no “comprehensive” plan for a potential Rafah operation has been revealed by the Israelis to the White House. The operation, however, has been discussed during recent calls between Biden and Netanyahu as well as during recent virtual talks with top Israeli and U.S. national security officials.

“We want to make sure that those conversations continue because it is important to protect those Palestinian lives — those innocent lives,” Jean-Pierre said.

The revelation of Israel's continued push to carry out a Rafah operation came as CIA director William Burns arrived Friday in Egypt, where negotiators are trying to seal a cease-fire accord between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas is considering the latest proposal for a cease-fire and hostage release put forward by U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators, who are looking to avert the Rafah operation.

They have publicly pressed Hamas to accept the terms of the deal that would lead to an extended cease-fire and an exchange of Israeli hostages taken captive on Oct. 7 and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Hamas has said it will send a delegation to Cairo in the coming days for further discussions on the offer, though it has not specified when.

Israel, and its allies, have sought to increase pressure on Hamas on the hostage negotiation. Signaling that Israel continues to move forward with its planning for a Rafah operation could be a tactic to nudge the militants to finalize the deal.

Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israeli forces would enter Rafah, which Israel says is Hamas’ last stronghold, regardless of whether a truce-for-hostages deal is struck. His comments appeared to be meant to appease his nationalist governing partners, and it was not clear whether they would have any bearing on any emerging deal with Hamas.

Blinken visited the region, including Israel, this week and called the latest proposal “extraordinarily generous” and said “the time to act is now.”

In Arizona on Friday, Blinken repeated remarks he made earlier this week that "the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a cease-fire is Hamas.”