A. J. Mast for The New York Times A “LOVE†sculpture outside of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.A federal judge has ruled in favor of the artist Robert Indiana, best known for his “LOVE†sculpture featuring a tilted letter “O,†in a suit claiming that the artist had renounced work he had previously authenticated.
The suit, filed by Joao Tovar, a dealer from Monaco, concerned a group of ten sculptures called “English PREM,†in which that word (Hindi for “loveâ€) was spelled out in capital letters arranged much lie those in the “LOVE†sculpture, with the first two letters above the last two. Mr. Tovar, who bought the works in 2008 from John Gilbert, a longtime associate of Mr. Indiana, claimed that they had been valued at $1.5 million until Mr. Indiana publicly declared they were not his work, shortly before they were to be auctioned.
In the decision, issued on Thursday, Judge Katherine B. Forrest of the Southern District of New York ruled that the certificate of authenticity allegedly signed by Mr. Indiana had in fact been issued by Mr. Gilbert, and that Mr. Indiana had in no way authorized the production of the sculptures. In a previous summary judgment, she ruled that Mr. Gilbert, not Mr. Indiana, was the creator of “English PREM.â€
Judge Forrest’s decision noted that Mr. Indiana had approved plans for a sculpture spelling out “PREM†using “a Hindi script design,†but not the block capital Roman letters in the sculptures bought by Mr. Tovar. Earlier this year, Mr. Indiana reach! ed a settlement in a lawsuit brought by Mr. Gilbert, in which Mr. Gilbert agreed not to claim that Mr. Indiana had anything to do with the block capital “PREM†sculptures, or to claim any business or artistic relationship with Mr. Indiana. The judge in that case noted that Mr. Indiana had said “PREM†was a design “monstrosity†that “looked like a refrigerator.â€
