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The Life of Josef Albers Essay example

Decent Essays

Homage to Albers

Josef Albers, a prominent artist of the 20th century whom created astounding paintings that evoked his passion and curiosity for color. He mastered a wide range of mediums and continually shared his explorations with his students. Josef Albers is an idol the art community will never forget. Josef was born on March 19, 1888 in Bottrop, Germany. At the age of 17 he became an elementary school teacher. By 25 he studied in Berlin to expand his skills and become a certified art teacher. Through the years he continued to build his education attending several art academies; The School of Arts and Crafts, Munich Academy, and Franz von Stuck. In 1922 he enrolled to Bauhaus, a teaching institution in Weimar, Germany. Here at …show more content…

It was originally published with Yale University’s press as a limited edition featuring 150 color plates. Eight years later the book appeared as a paperback including ten of Josef’s color studies done himself. Josef loved to educate just as much as he loved color. He shared his lessons as a guest teacher in North and South America and Europe. During 1971 he was pronounced the first living artist to be honored with the solo retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Josef Albers constantly studied and reinvented his practices as a writer, painter and color theorists. During this year he and his wife opened a non-profit organization, The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in Bethany, Connecticut.
Their mission was, “To further the revelation and evocation of vision through art.” (Anni Albers, Josef and Anni Albers Biography, Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, Web.) This historical site displays both Josef and Anni Albers artwork. The walls are decorated with Josef’s original Homage to the Square paintings and furnished with Anni’s intricate weavings and prints. The foundation is a sanctuary carrying on the Albers’ religion and love for art.
In 1976 Josef continued the Homage to the Square painting collections. While creating a painting he was accompanied by his colleague, Nicholas Fox Webber, Director of the Foundation. Like all of his paintings the colors that he chose represented a particular emotion. This painting was very near

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