RETROSPECTIVE – JOSEF ALBERS
PRESS RELEASE
The significance of Josef Albers as an artist, teacher, and theorist is undeniable today. His studies in light, color, and perception led to the creation of the renowned Albers Color Theory, which has had a profound influence, particularly in the United States.
Albers’ teachings are based on the concept of new, creative seeing: color is not so much a physical phenomenon as it is a psychological one. In his teaching, he examined the interaction of colors through highly practical means, thus inspiring a new way of perceiving. In one interview, Albers himself stated: “My teaching is not a system or theory, but an encouragement… To what? … To seeing, to sensitizing, and to sharpening our vision.”
Albers’ work as a teacher culminated in one of the most significant art publications of our time, “Interaction of Color”, first published in 1963. The book was released in Finnish as “Värien vuorovaikutus” in 1978 by the Free Art School. Additionally, the school’s publication series includes a collection of Josef Albers’ poems, aphorisms, and writings titled “Taito nähdä” (The Art of Seeing).
Josef Albers (b. 1888 in Bottrop, d. 1976 in New Haven, USA) created his first expressive figurative drawings and printmaking between 1914-1919. Initially, he studied at the Munich Art Academy, but at the age of 32, he joined the newly founded Bauhaus School from 1920 to 1923. Shortly after, Walter Gropius invited him to become a teacher at the institution.
The legendary Bauhaus School, founded in Weimar, later moved to Dessau (1925) and then to Berlin (1932). However, under pressure from the Nazis, the school was forced to close in 1933. Albers subsequently emigrated to the United States, where he continued his teaching career—first at Black Mountain College (1933-1949) and later at Yale University (1950-1960). In the U.S., Josef Albers, together with his wife Anni Albers, laid the foundation for a groundbreaking legacy in art education.
The Josef Albers exhibition now on display in Finland is the first comprehensive retrospective of the artist’s entire body of work. Organized to celebrate the centennial of the artist’s birth, the exhibition was initially presented at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, where it was on view from March to May 1988. The exhibition features 246 works sourced from museums and public and private collections worldwide. The artworks span from 1914 to 1976, beginning with his previously lesser-known early works and culminating in his iconic “Homage to the Square” series from 1950-1976.
Translated with ChatGPT