In 1975 William Katz, a friend and collaborator of Indiana’s, wrote of Columbus: The Geography of Memory (then titled The Geography of Memory):
“A painting made during his closest association with [Agnes] Martin shows a circle dissected into many parts with compass-like divisions. It is a painting that was never finished and for reasons of economy it was painted over one of the early canvases celebrating the shapes of counties (Brown County, Red County, Green County), some of which were counties from his home state, while others were imaginary. Imbedded in the siennas and reds of autumns near his father’s Indiana property on Greasy Creek in Brown County is a compass rose around which is inscribed the legend: The Geography of the Memory. Looking back, it seems to me that this tentative work foretells the visual vocabulary of all Indiana’s later work, developing his obsessions with geometry, identity and memory into an encircling unity.” [1]
Indiana returned to the unfinished painting in 1992. The addition of the text “Columbus” at the bottom of the canvas coincided with the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in America. However, this addition had personal significance for Indiana, as Columbus was the town where his mother died.
[1] William Katz, “Robert Indiana,” Currant 1 (December 1975–January 1976), p. 48.