Summary
The motif of the heart began appearing in Dine's work in the mid-1960s, often in his theatrical designs, or in collages which drew upon Picabia's L'Oeil cacodylate, 1921 (Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris). The heart evokes childhood notions of romantic love as well having more sensual connotations. Dine said about them: 'The hearts were a prime object. Yes, the shape! It means a lot of things. It doesn't just mean love, it's anatomical, it's all kinds of things. It refers to all kinds of anatomy, too. But is also was a way for me to hang painting onto something.' (quoted in David Shapiro, Jim Dine, New York 1981, p.204)
In 1971, following his move to Vermont, Dine began a series of large paintings with a heart occupying the entire canvas, against which were juxtaposed tools and objects. He shortly thereafter abandoned the heart motif, not returning to it for a decade… (read more)
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