Corita Kent (1918-1986)

Love (1985)

A Roman Catholic nun from 1936 to 1968, Corita Kent gained recognition as an activist and an artist whose bright colors and slogans from the mass media convey strong social and religious messages. In her art and in her capacity as a beloved art department chair of Immaculate Heart College, she was in step with the widespread questioning of authority that epitomized American during the 1960s. Her most famous and controversial outdoor work, created during the Vietnam War, is her monumental rainbow painting on a huge gas storage tank on the Boston harbor front. Today the Corita Art Center of the Immaculate Heart Community in California keeps the artist’s love of life and humanity alive. Her artwork appeared on the fourth Love stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service.