Robert Indiana’s Numbers (1968) stands among the most emblematic works of post-war American Pop art, distilling his signature fusion of bold colour, crisp geometry and cultural symbolism into a striking numerical lexicon. Conceived as a portfolio of ten silkscreen prints, each number from zero to nine is rendered with monumental clarity, their graphic forms echoing Indiana’s background in sign painting and American vernacular design.
Each number serves as a metaphor for the stages of human life: zero as potential, one as birth, two as youth, three as adolescence, and so forth through maturity, decline and death. The sequence becomes a symbolic cycle, compressing time and experience into pure form and colour.
With their saturated hues, sharp contours and meditative structure, the Numbers (1968) prints exemplify Indiana’s belief in the power of universal symbols to transcend language, securing their place as icons of Pop art and deeply personal reflections on the passage of life.
“ Numbers fill my life. They fill my life even more than love. We are immersed in numbers from the moment we are born…. By creating them, I’ve invested those numbers with a quality they have never had before.
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