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 entry for January 1, 1963, Indiana bemoans that it was cold again, and even more so as J. (his partner, fashion designer John Kloss) had come back drunk from a New Year's Eve party at Tom Wesselmann's, and let his fire go out overnight, leaving his loft stone cold. He then describes a visit from the Boston collector Hanford Yang, who came with an architect friend, noting that Yang was pleased to see his painting "Gas Works" (The American Gas Works) in good shape, and that he expressed a desire to have a drawing of Indiana's to round out his collection. He records going back to Kloss's third floor loft after they left, and that he found him there with Agnes Martin.