Josef Albers (1888-1976) - Interaction of Colors - XX-1

One-color screen print by German-American artist Josef Albers (1888 Bottrop - 1976 New Haven, CT), from his portfolio 'Interaction of Color' (1973), published by Josef Keller Verlag, Starnberg (ed.) on the affinity and influence of colors on themselves and on each other. Characteristics: - From the portfolio 'Interaction of Color' (1973) - Serial number: XX-1 - 25 x 33 cm - Excellent condition (see photos, which are part of the description) - not signed, unnumbered - portfolio name and serial number on the back of the silkscreen - one silkscreen from the 1000 edition - handmade paper - Provenance: originates from the original portfolio 'Interaction of Color' and purchased at a recognized/reputed art auction (Germany) (!) The last page (in the photo) is not included. This back only contains a pencil monogram of the title (no printed text). Additional information about Josef Albers: Josef Albers (1888–1976) was an influential German-American artist, designer and art educator, best known for his groundbreaking work on color and perception. He began his career as a teacher at the Bauhaus in Germany, where he taught glasswork, design and visual theory. After the Bauhaus was shut down by the Nazi regime, Albers emigrated to the United States in 1933. In America he became a key figure in modern art and art education. He taught at Black Mountain College and later at Yale University, where he influenced an entire generation of artists and designers. Albers believed that color is relative and dependent on its surroundings—a idea he systematically explored in his art and teaching. His best-known work is the series Homage to the Square (1950–1976), in which he used simple geometric shapes and carefully chosen colors to investigate the interactions and illusions of color. In addition to painting, Albers also worked with graphics, photography and furniture design. His theoretical book Interaction of Color (1963) remains a standard text in art and design education worldwide. Josef Albers is regarded as a key figure in the transition from European modernism to postwar American abstract art. Josef Albers’ Interaction of Color is not a traditional color theory with fixed laws or schemes, but a fundamental study of how color is perceived. For Albers, color did not exist as an objective given: color is always relative and changes with its surroundings. His central conviction was that color is “almost never what it seems.” Rather than explaining colors through physics or color wheels, Albers began from the experience of looking itself. He found that color can only be truly understood through observation and experimentation. Therefore he had his students not paint, but work with colored paper: cutting, shifting and comparing. The eye must be trained, not memory. A core idea in Interaction of Color is that colors continually influence each other. When two colors stand side by side, they change each other’s appearance. This principle of simultaneous contrast makes the same color appear lighter, darker, warmer or cooler depending on the context. Thus a neutral gray can look cooler next to red and warmer next to blue, without the gray itself changing. Albers also demonstrated how color can mislead the eye. Two different colors can appear identical, while one color may present as two different colors. These visual illusions were not tricks to him, but proofs of how unreliable our perception can be. Color is not a fixed fact, but an event arising from the relationship between colors. Additionally, he explored how color can suggest transparency and depth on a completely flat surface. Through careful color choices, a form can appear in front of or behind another, or a transparent effect can arise without true transparency. This insight later proved especially influential in abstract art, graphic design and architecture. Limitation played a crucial role in Albers’ method. By using fixed shapes and simple compositions—such as in his famous Homage to the Square—he directed all attention to the interaction between colors. Form was subordinate to perception. The book Interaction of Color, published in 1963, consists of exercises, examples and observations. It is not a theoretical manual, but a practical learning tool that invites readers to look and discover for themselves. Its influence endures today, from painting and graphic design to fashion, interior, architecture and digital interfaces. Albers’ enduring message is simple but radical: color is the most relative medium in art. Those who work with color do not work with certainties, but with perception, context and experience. Albers was connected with the following artists: Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, László Moholy-Nagy, Johannes Itten, Oskar Schlemmer, Theo van Doesburg, Piet Mondrian, Kazimir Malevich, Anni Albers, John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, Ellsworth Kelly, Frank Stella, Agnes Martin, Ad Reinhardt, Victor Vasarely, Bridget Riley, Sol LeWitt, Max Bill

Estimation:€150

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