The heartbreaking history behind LEGO LOVE

2025’s first LEGO Art set takes inspiration from an iconic piece of pop art – but it’s one with its own heartbreaking history…

What is art without a good story to imbue it with meaning? From the troubled circumstances in which van Gogh painted The Starry Night to the manifestation of grief that is Rossetti’s Beata Beatrix, many of history’s most iconic artworks are known as much for their backstory as the material itself. But then there are those works so ubiquitously reproduced that their original story is lost to time and forgotten.

This much is arguably true of Robert Indiana’s LOVE, which you’ll probably recognise even if you know very little about its true origins. First created for a Museum of Modern Art Christmas card in the mid-20th century, the four-letter word has since appeared in sculpted form all around the world, and will soon join LEGO Store shelves in 31214 LOVE.

And though Indiana didn’t create this work after committing himself to an asylum or while grieving a deceased spouse, the story behind its origins is still a complex cocktail of heartbreak, religion and the double-edged sword of success. To quote Indiana himself, LOVE ‘was a marvellous idea, but it was also a terrible mistake’.

We’ve taken a deep dive into the history of LOVE over on our YouTube channel, so hit play above to find out more about why this LEGO set is perhaps as much a rejection of love as a celebration of it.

31214 LOVE launches January 1, 2025 for £69.99 / $79.99 / €79.99. Head here to check out a complete list of confirmed and rumoured 2025 LEGO sets.

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