Down belongs to a series of small paintings that Indiana created between 1961 and 1962, and which were exhibited at the Stubbing and Greenfield Gallery, Mamaroneck, New York, in spring 1962. The work’s title, in stenciled letters, appears in the bottom half of the painting. In the upper half of the canvas are numerals arranged in an arc, a reference to instruments of measurement such as clocks and gas meters. These instruments are also referenced in works including the paintings The American Gas Works (1961–62) and Up (1962), and the sculpture Hub (1962).
