Robert Indiana kept a series of illustrated journals during the late 1950s and 1960s, in which he discusses the development of his work as well as his daily life on Coenties Slip.

In his journal page for April 28, 1962, Indiana discusses the sculpture Bar, writing "name this 1960 const[ruction] thinking a 'seat of judgement' as [the] visual description. Of course it is also place of downfall [and] [the] uplifted." The entry includes a sketch of the work, with notes recording its medium (oil on wood), dimensions (41 x 12 1/2 inches), the years Indiana worked on the herm (1960 and 1962), and the country (USA). 

Indiana also discusses going uptown to visit galleries, seeing David Weinrib's show, meeting him and his wife, and heading to the Museum of Modern Art with them. He records that he saw Luis Buñuel's film Viridiana at the Paris Theatre.