Robert Indiana

American, 1928-2018

Year of Meteors

Robert Indiana (American, 1928–2018). Year of Meteors, 1961. Oil on canvas, 90 x 84 inches (228.6 x 213.4 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1962 (K1962:13). © Morgan Art Foundation Ltd / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

© Morgan Art Foundation Ltd / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

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© Morgan Art Foundation Ltd / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

© Morgan Art Foundation Ltd / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

Year of Meteors, 1961

Artwork Details

Collection Highlight

Materials

oil on canvas

Measurements

support: 90 x 84 inches (228.6 x 213.36 cm); framed: 92 x 86 1/16 x 3 inches (233.68 x 218.6 x 7.62 cm)

Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Credit

Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1962

Accession ID

K1962:13

Year of Meteors is one of several “literary paintings” Robert Indiana created during the early 1960s. The painting’s central geometric motif, a compass rose with eight points and two concentric circles, provides the architecture for passages from Walt Whitman’s poem “Year of Meteors,” published in Leaves of Grass. In his poem, Whitman reflects on events of 1859 and 1860, including the passage of the ship the Great Eastern (an engineering marvel) through New York Harbor, the presidential election of Abraham Lincoln, and a rare meteor procession. 

Label from Robert Indiana: A Sculpture Retrospective, June 16–September 23, 2018

Other Works by This Artist