Jasper Johns began depicting numbers around 1955, treating them as some of the most familiar signs encountered in everyday life. Works featuring a single numeral were given the title Figure, distinguishing them from the later Numbers series. The word “figure” refers not only to a numeral but also to a form or shape, reflecting Johns’s interest in numbers as visual and sculptural entities rather than merely functional symbols.
Around 1957, Johns began producing the Numbers series, in which the numerals 0 through 9 are repeatedly arranged across the surface. He also created works titled 0–9, in which the ten numerals are organized into two rows. Only three painted versions of 0–9 were produced—in white, gray, and multicolored variations—but the motif was subsequently developed through prints and drawings. In 1963, Johns created three lithographic portfolios in which successive numeral images were layered onto a single lithographic stone, allowing traces of earlier impressions to remain visible. This process eventually led to the Black Numeral Series (1968) and the Color Numeral Series (1969), the latter represented in the museum’s collection.