The genesis of Indiana's important Numbers portfolio of 1968 also had its origins in the artist's childhood. His fondness for numbers as pure forms, as cultural symbols, and as signifiers of autobiographical milestones is perfectly realized in this suite. Each of the ten serigraphs contains a number inscribed in a circle rendered against a contrasting field of pure, resonating color. Whereas Jasper Johns dealt with cardinal numerals in a detached, formalistic manner in his series of lithographs 0-9 (1960-63), Indiana's staunch, forthright numbers unequivocally state their purpose and thus are "about things that surround us and galvanize us." - Poppy Gandler Orchier Robert Indiana Prints, A Catalogue Raisonné 1951-1991, p. 8
Poppy Gandler Orchier: Another major theme which has figured prominently in your work is numbers.
Robert Indiana: My involvement with numbers, my first real consciousness about them, is simply the fact that I lived in 21 different houses before I was 17 years old and as a child it was a great pastime to tour the countryside and visit all these different houses and to go back to house number 1 and house number 2. That's the first meaningful association. Otherwise numbers are just fascinating because they're numbers, each one loaded with multiple references and significances. Ibid p. 13
