The Abstract Expressionists liked to drink. For Pollock, that passion abetted his demise; for Rothko, it provided fuel for his creative process. When Franz Kline ordered alcohol from John Heller’s Liquor Store in Greenwich Village on December 31, 1960 — presumably for a New Year’s Eve Party — he seemed to have been expecting some big drinkers: his total bill was more than $274.

We know about Kline’s alcohol purchase today thanks to the Archives of American Art, which holds the original, handwritten receipt from the store. It is included in "Lists: To-dos, Illustrated Inventories, Collected Thoughts, and Other Artists' Enumerations from the Collections of the Smithsonian Museum," a new book assembled by the Archives’s curator of manuscripts, Liza Kirwin, and features dozens of other fascinating artist notes, lists, and ephemera. (Earlier this year, ARTINFO took a look at Alexander Calders Paris address book, another exciting piece in the book.)

But back to Kline: that $274 figure, adjusted for inflation, would be worth about $1,960 today. While the actual components of the order are not entirely clear, one can make out six bottles of Cutty Sark whiskey ($6.47 a piece): a classy choice. Also of note is Kline’s address: 242 West 14th Street, on the same block as 210 West 14th Street, where Marcel Duchamp had a studio at the time.

Click the photo at left to see a detail view of Franz Kline’s formidable liquor purchase.