Josef Albers

description

A German artist, designer, writer and theorist of art, a talented teacher who worked in America for a long time. The name of Josef Alberts is inextricably connected with the Bauhaus Higher Art School in Weimar, which was known for its avant-garde orientation. A former student of this institution, Albers worked there as a teacher, created a new art glass studio, and later became the deputy director of the school.

In the USA, where the artist emigrated after the Bauhaus was disbanded by the Nazi authorities, he continued his teaching activities and played an important role in spreading the aesthetics of constructivism, cubism and abstract art among American artists. His work served as a kind of bridge between European avant-garde trends and the new modern art of America.

Albers was best known for his series of works “Homage to the Square”, which includes geometric abstract paintings and lithographs that are distinguished by exceptionally subtle chromatic harmony. Almost all the paintings in the series consist of several squares that are inside each other and painted in muted harmonious colours. Creating his work, the artist carefully thought out every detail, the most delicate shades of colour and the effect of the use of certain combinations.

In 1963, the artist developed the theory of colour pigments, which he outlined in his book “Interaction of Colour”.

Key ideas:

– The central theme and main character of Albers’ painting is colour. The artist believed that using colour combinations could convey the shape, size of objects and human emotions. These beliefs came from practising glass art and found their expression in the scientific works of the author.

– In his paintings, Albers used straight geometric constructions, which at the end of his career turned into equilateral rectangles, often placed one inside the other and delimited only by colour. From 1947, he began to deeply analyze the influence of colour changes on the perception of external forms and work exclusively with abstract figures.

– The artist worked very carefully. Each of his paintings is a carefully thought-out composition, where subtle colour nuances and strict geometric constructions matter. On the reverse side of his paintings created mostly on masonite, Albert listed all the shades present in the image and compiled lists of pigments that he used.

– The artist mostly created series of paintings. Paintings in the same format are variations of colour solutions based on the same geometric grid. Thus, Albers revealed various properties of colours and their influence on each other.

– Thanks to his teaching talent, Joseph Albert was able to spread his art and theory among the younger generation of American artists. His paintings, which he built in accordance with the rules he developed, provided a theoretical basis for the development of non-subject art and had a significant influence on the emergence of such styles as Op art, kinetic art, colour field painting and new abstraction.

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1888

1918

1920

1925

1933

1950

1963

1965

1976

Josef Albers was born

Josef Albers was born into a low-income family of artisans. Got an education in Buren, and then in Berlin, Munich and Essen, where he studied the art of engraving.

Received the first major order for the creation of the stained glass window “Rose of mysticism”

Received the first major order for the creation of the stained glass window “Rose of mysticism” for the church in Essen. This work allowed Albers to continue his artistic education and seriously engage in fine and decorative arts.

Entered the Bauhaus art school

Entered the Bauhaus art school, where he very soon received the post of teacher. Albers was invited as an assistant professor to the glass department, and his practical knowledge of stained glass technology helped him achieve great success.

Became a professor at the school, which by that time moved to Dessau

Became a professor at the school, which by that time moved to Dessau. Albers taught design and was the head of a furniture workshop. The artist created abstract compositions on glass using a sandblasting apparatus, and also developed the design of furniture, fabrics and dishes. In the same year, he met his future wife Anni, who also worked at the Bauhaus.

He immigrated to the United States

After the Nazis disbanded, he immigrated to the United States with his wife. In America, the artist received a teaching position at Black Mountain College in Asheville, North Carolina. Since that time, Albers began his experiments with colour and form, working in oil paints and in the technique of lithography.

He headed the Department of Design at Yale University's School of Art

He headed the Department of Design at Yale University’s School of Art. During this period, Albers began working on his most famous series “Homage to the Square”, which was a study of the optical effects of colour within a single geometric shape. His experiments had a huge impact on the development of modern painting in the United States; among the students of the master, there were a huge number of promising young artists who later became famous.

Published his famous book “The Colour Relations”

Published his famous book “The Colour Relations”, in which he presented his colour theory. The book was released in a limited edition and contained colour illustrations and tablets, prepared by the author specifically for the book. After leaving Yale, Albers continued to teach, giving lectures at colleges and universities throughout the country.

The traveling exposition

The Museum of Modern Art in New York organized a major exhibition of the artist’s works “Homage to the Square”. The traveling exposition was demonstrated throughout the whole year in the USA, countries of South America and Mexico.