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.
The upper half of this journal page includes entries for May 16, 1959, and May 16, 1960. In his entry for May 16, 1959, Indiana records that he had lunch with a friend and saw a showing of Desire, a 1936 film starring Marlene Dietrich, at the Museum of Modern Art. This was followed by dinner in Chinatown and a party.
In his entry for May 16, 1960, Indiana discusses the development of multiple works. He notes adding another coat of gesso to Soul Plate (later retitled Soul), and adding an auto part to "Jack's column" (Jack's Pillar, work later abandoned). Indiana also mentions starting the construction Machine for Roman Justice after dinner that evening. Notes to the left of a sketch of the work indicate that a wheel from 27 Coenties Slip was added to the terminal of "Jack's beam" (the artist Jack Youngerman lived at 27 Coenties Slip), that the Roman numerals are in gesso, and the dimensions 41 ¼ x 10 ½ inches. A comment added at a later date states that the work was renamed Law, and that it was in the collection of Philip Johnson.
Indiana's journals often mention important current events, and in his May 16, 1960, entry "summit collapses" refers to the collapse of the US-Soviet summit meeting in Paris, held in the wake of the Soviet downing of an American U-2 spy plane. Later that year Indiana would create the sculpture U-2, in commemoration of the capture of U.S. Air Force captain Francis Gary Powers, who was flying the plane.
The bottom half of the page includes entries for May 17, 1959, and May 17, 1960. In his May 17, 1959, entry Indiana records that he had dinner with a friend at the Limelight, followed by a beer at the White Horse Tavern.
His entry for May 17, 1960, includes a sketch of Jack's Pillar, measuring 81 x 11 ½ inches, with a note documenting the addition of the color Bellini permanent green light. Indiana later returned to the page, calling the work Conte's Column and noting, in 1961, that the project was scrapped.
