"Three Hearts from the Beginning of the Work", 1986

oil on canvas (3 parts)

101,6 x 228,6 cm (40 x 90 in.) in total / 101,6 x 76,2 cm (40 x 30 in.) each panel

verso signed, dated and titled on the last panel each panel verso numbered '1-3'

About the work

A self-described romantic artist, Jim Dine has embraced the heart as a template through which he can explore relationships of color, texture, and composition. Dine’s dynamic repetition of a condensed visual vocabulary has redefined the once-common heart as a personal symbol for the artist and as a metaphor for the human individual in general. Jim Dine describes his “Hearts” with these words: “The heart is mine and I use it as a template for all my emotions. It’s a landscape for everything. It’s like Indian classical music—based on something very simple but building to a complicated structure. Within that you can do anything in the world. And that’s how I feel about my hearts.”