Josef Albers, Hommage to the Square, 1963
I took advantage of my recent trip into New York City to upgrade my visual vocabulary, or at least my visual experience.
Besides realizing the greatness of New York architecture, there was a lot to see.
The Metropolitan had the Weimar Republic German artists do their rendition of that decaying society. But, one can see their supreme (for lack of a better word) talent when viewing their drawings. I believe it is the drawing that makes the artist, and these ones are no exception.
Since the theme was German (well, I also got to see the Tiffany estate collection, the American Painters in Paris and Sean Scully’s Wall of Light - more of a patchwork colorist - I went to the nearby Whitney to see the exhibition on the Bauhaus designers Josef Albers and Moholy-Nagy. These were the artists that were eventually kicked out of Germany by the Nazis.
Albers experimented with color extensively. His deceptively simple squares are really an attempt to put color, and our interactions with color, to the forefront.
I think he succeeded both experimentally and in a small, genius sort of way, artistically.
I am working on another blog entry called “Albers and the Abyssinians”. Another charming genius creation, which I’m sure Albers would have appreciated.