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.
This journal page, dated November 28, 1959, includes a sketch of the painting The Gift (Easel). Indiana's notes indicate that the work is cadmium red medium on canvas, and the letters a and b show which areas are painted red and which are dyed canvas. The artist added two notes to the page at a later date—to the right of the sketch is a note stating that the work was on indefinite loan to Arthur Carr (a clinical psychologist, art collector, and friend of Indiana) in 1961, and then returned. A note to the left states that in 1962 the work was on extended loan to Dr. Carr.