Josef Albers (1888 – 1976) is known first and foremost for his famous series Homage to the Square, that he began in the 1950s and continued to work on for over two decades, establishing him as one of the leading protagonists of modern art. Albers’ Homage not only show a clear perspective in their composition but also an extraordinary harmony of colour. Though committing to a particularly restricted palette, Albers played around with numerous colour tones and combinations to achieve different effects.
His professorship at the legendary Bauhaus School in Dessau and Berlin (1923 – 1933) was of fundamental significance until – due to continual harassment from the Nazi party – he was forced to emigrate to the United States. There, he first taught at the recently-founded Black Mountain College, North Carolina (1933 – 1949) before being offered a professor’s chair at Yale University, Connecticut (1950 – 1959). In the following years, Albers continued to deliver lecture series at various American universities. In 1963, his legendary book, Interaction of Colour, was published.
Publications
Biography
Born in Bottrop, Germany
Studies in arts education at the Royal Art Academy, Berlin, Germany
Studies at the School of Arts and Crafts, Berlin, Germany
Studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, Germany
Preliminary course at the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany
Teaching assignment at the Bauhaus Dessau and Berlin, Germany
Teaching assignment at the Black Mountain College, North Carolina, USA
Becomes an American citizen
Appointed director at Black Mountain College, North Carolina, USA
Appointed director of the Faculty of Design, Yale University, Connecticut, USA
Move to Orange, Connecticut, USA
Died on March 25 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Exhibitions
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
Villa Hügel, Essen, Deutschland
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA; Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy
Burlington City Arts, Burlington, Vermont, USA
Ace Hotel, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, MA, USA
Mudec, Museo delle Culture, Milan, Italy
Waddington Custot Galleries, London, Great Britain
Museo Fundación Juan March; Museo de Arte Abstracto Español, Cuenca, Ecuador; Josef Albers Museum Quadrat, Bottrop, Germany
Josef Albers Museum Quadrat Bottrop, Germany
Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork, Ireland
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany; Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Josef Albers Museum Quadrat, Bottrop, Germany; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
NIU Art Museum - Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA
The Columbus Museum, Columbus, OH, USA
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York, USA
Museo Morandi, Bologna, Italy
Museum Kampa, The Jan and Meda Mládek Foundation, Prague, Czech Republic
Galerie Karsten Greve, Milan, Italy
Galerie Karsten Greve, Milan, Italy
Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy; Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy; Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, Valencia, Spain; Josef Albers Museum Quadrat, Bottrop, Germany; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA
Josef Albers Museum Quadrat, Bottrop, Germany
Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany
Bauhaus Archiv, Berlin, Germany; Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden – Baden, Germany
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
The Rose Art Museum, Waltham, MA, USA
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX, USA
Norton Simon Museum of Art, Pasadena, CA, USA
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Bauhaus, Dessau, Germany
Verein für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe, Erfurt, Germany
Galerie Goltz, Munich, Germany
National Gallery of Australia, Canberry, Australia
Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Krefeld, Germany
Die Neue Sammlung, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany
Kunsthaus NRW Kornelimünster, Aachen, Germany
Unisersity of Arizona Museum of Art, Tuscon, AZ, USA
Smart Museum of Art, University of Art, Chicago, IL, USA
Kolumba, Kunstmuseum des Erzbistums Köln, Cologne, Germany
Orange County Musum of Art, Newport Beach, USA
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, USA
National Gallery, London, Great Britain; Museum Kuntspalast, Düsseldorf, Germany
Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
Fondation Beyeler, Riehen (Basel), Switzerland
Whitechapel Gallery, London, Great Britain
Addison Gallery of American Art Andover, Andover, MA, USA
Museum of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
Galería Cayón, Madrid, Spain
Lincoln Center, Vera List Art Project 2013, New York, USA
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain
Ephraim - Palais, Stadtmuseum Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT, USA
Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt, Germany
Villa Schöningen, Potsdam, Germany
Museum Moderner Kunst Kärnten, Klagenfurt, Austria
Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Barbican Art Gallery, London, Great Britain
Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, Germany
Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, Germany
Städel Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, France
Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, Germany
Daimler Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, Germany; Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria
Städtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim, Germany
Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy
British Museum, London, Great Britain
Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig - mumok, Vienna, Australia
Kolumba, Cologne, Germany
Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany
The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Tate Modern, London, Great Britain
Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany
Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Städel Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
Langen Foundation, Neuss, Germany
Fondation Beyeler, Riehen (Basel), Switzerland
ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe, Germany
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Palazzo Cavour, Turin, Italy
Daimler Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Fondation Beyeler, Riehen (Basel), Switzerland
Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
Fondation Beyeler, Riehen (Basel), Switzerland
Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany
Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Ludwig Museum im Deutschherrenhaus, Koblenz, Germany; Kunstmuseum Solothurn, Solothurn, Switzerland; Weserburg – Museum für moderne Kunst, Bremen, Germany
Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany
Städel Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Paris, France
Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany
Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
Galerie nächst St. Stephan – Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, Vienna, Austria
Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany
Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany
Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA; The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Musée d´art contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, Germany
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
Kassel, Germany
Kunstverein Hannover, Hannover, Germany
Hamburger Kunstverein, Hamburg, Germany
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX, USA
Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
Kassel, Germany
Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX, USA
Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA