Eternal Hexagon from X + X (Ten Works by Ten Painters)
Robert Indiana
American, 1928–2018
1964
A screenprint from Robert Indiana's 1964 X + X portfolio that turns a commercial-looking emblem—titled "Eternal Hexagon"—into a compact pop-art symbol by using flat, industrial colors and stenciled typography to elevate number and shape into an icon.
Like a blown-up label or coin, a large red numeral 6 sits in a yellow hexagon encircled by stenciled red lettering on a deep brown ground, the hard-edged, flat colors and strict symmetry giving it the blunt presence of printed signage.
Rooted in Pop Art, this work compresses advertising, typography, and numeric imagery into a self-contained emblem, showing how mass-produced graphic language can be reclaimed as fine art and a carrier of new meaning.
Medium
One from a portfolio of ten screenprints
Dimensions
composition 17 1/2 x 16" (44.5 x 40.7 cm); sheet 23 15/16 x 19 15/16" (60.9 x 50.7 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Harry C. Oppenheimer (by exchange)
Accession
139.1965.9
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
