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.

Indiana began this journal page on March 4, 1959, with a discussion of his work on an AT&T program (Bell Telephone Hour) in Brooklyn. He records that the stars of the show were Eileen Farrell (an American soprano) and Isaac Stern (an American violinist), and notes "a shaky performance on my part . . . this work being little fun anymore."

In his second entry, dated March 4, 1960, Indiana writes that he saw Jack Youngerman, who had a package for him from the Museum of Modern of Art, its "Image of Man" (New Images of Man) catalogue. Once home Indiana notes that he began to work on a canvas, again from recent sketches. Next to a sketch of the work, titled Image of Man, are notes indicating that it is permanent green light on gesso ground, oil on canvas, and 72 x 60 inches. A note added at a later date explains that the work was overpainted to become The Triumph of Tira, with changes made in 1962.