The Electric EAT

early 1960s

MoMA buys “The American Dream, I”

Alfred H. Barr Jr. acquires the painting The American Dream, I for the Museum of Modern Art; after this the artist’s career takes off.

1962

First solo exhibition in New York

Eleanor Ward’s Stable Gallery hosts his first solo exhibition in New York.

1964

Break-up with Kelly and the birth of LOVE

After parting from Ellsworth Kelly, Indiana reworks an earlier, cruder version of the piece (according to the art historian Susan Elizabeth Ryan, in 1964 it was a far more explicit four-letter word beginning with F, its second letter, a U, tilted to the right) into the famous stacked LOVE with its tilted O, and sends the first cards to friends and acquaintances in the art world. Its red, blue and green are thought to nod to Kelly’s colours, and the relationship was not made public until 2013.

summer 1969

Rents the upper floor of “The Star of Hope” on Vinalhaven

Visiting the Life photographer Elliot Elisofon on the island of Vinalhaven, he begins renting the upper floor of the hundred-year-old Victorian Odd Fellows Hall, “The Star of Hope.” He was drawn to the order’s insignia of three interlocking links: truth, friendship and, the important one in the middle, love.

1978

Moves to Vinalhaven for good

Losing his lease on the Bowery, he moves into “The Star of Hope” full-time: from this year he lives and works on the island in Maine.

1998

Retrospective 1958–1998 in Nice

The Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain in Nice shows a retrospective of his work from 1958 to 1998.