Journal 8 - Joseph Albers

Josef Albers was born in Germany in 1888. He was an artist and educator in both Germany and the United States. He taught at the Bauhaus in Dessau until it was closed under Nazi pressure. Then he emigrated to the United States. In 1950 Albers became a professor at Yale where he headed the department of design.

Albers was accomplished in different fields including be known as a designer, photographer, typographer, printmaker, and poet. However, he is most known for his work as an abstract painter and theorist. He painted hundreds of paintings in his series Homage to the Square between 1950 and 1976. In this series he painted chromatic interactions with nested squares. He often recorded the colors of paint used on the back of the piece.

Albers is also known for his work as a color theorist. In 1963, he published the book Interaction of Color. This book presents his theory that colors are governed by an internal and deceptive logic.

Resources:

Megg’s History of Graphic Design

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Albers

http://www.albersfoundation.org/