Josef Albers left his mark on generations of artists through his teaching at the Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau, at Black Mountain College and at Harvard and Yale. He published his insights into the interrelationships of colour in his book Interaction of Color in 1963. He taught at Black Mountain College for over ten years and invited a number of artists (including Elaine and Willem de Kooning, Theodoros Stamos and Robert Motherwell) to take part in summer sessions. Helen Frankenthaler and Kenneth Noland were among the many students he taught personally. In 1950, Albers moved to Yale University and took on guest lectureships at many other renowned universities. Together with Hans Hofmann, Josef Albers is one of the most important art educators in America.
Josef Albers (1888–1976)
Homage to the Square, 1961
Currently exhibited: Yes (Gallery: Painting as a Home)
Material: Oil on metal
Size: 50 x 50 cm
Inv-Nr.: B_145
Image rights: VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Keywords:
Previous owner: The Aeschbacher Collection, Switzerland
Acquisition: Reinhard Ernst Collection, Sotheby’s, London, 2010
Even before his emigration to America, Josef Albers had helped shape the Germany of the Weimar Republic as an artist and art teacher: from 1913, he attended art schools and academies in Berlin, Essen and Munich before taking up studies at the Bauhaus in Weimar in 1920. He was appointed ‘Young Master’ by Walter Gropius in 1923 and quickly developed a groundbreaking approach to art education as head of the preliminary course. When the Bauhaus in Berlin closed in 1933, Albers emigrated to the USA where he continued his busy and influential teaching career. He taught at Black Mountain College for over ten years and invited a number of artists (including Elaine and Willem de Kooning, Theodoros Stamos and Robert Motherwell) to take part in summer sessions. Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Rauschenberg and Kenneth Noland were among the many students he taught personally.
In 1950, Albers moved to Yale University – where he taught Lee Krasner – and took on guest lectureships at many other renowned universities. Major solo exhibitions during his lifetime illustrate his reputation: A retrospective of his works was shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1971. Together with Hans Hofmann, Josef Albers is one of the most important art educators in America.
