“Abstraction is real, probably more real than nature” – Joseph Albers
Josef Albers (German-American, b. 1888–d. 1976) is often referred to as the Father of Color Theory. His abstract canvases employed rigid geometric compositions which emphasized the optical effects that were activated by his chosen color palettes. His seminal Homage to the Square series of the 1950s and ‘60s focused on the simplification of form and the interplay of shape and color. Albers was highly influential as a teacher, first at the Bauhaus in Germany alongside Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee, and later with posts at Black Mountain College, Yale, and Harvard. He taught courses in design and color theory, and counted among his students such iconic artists as Eva Hesse, Cy Twombly, Richard Anuszkiewicz, and Robert Rauschenberg. He is often cited among the progenitors of Minimalist, Conceptual, and Op art.