Josef Alber Research

http://www.g-e-s-t-a-l-t.org/MEDIA/PDF/Interaction-of-Color.pdf

https://acpress.amherst.edu/books/intersectingcolors/chapter/a-short-history-of-josef-alberss-interaction-of-color/

During his early life Josef Albers interest for painting arose from watching his father who was a house painter. In 1920 he attended Bauhaus where he was introduced to an environment where matters of form in art were a primary concern, colour being the most prominent element. Whilst at the Bauhaus Albers designed multiple coloured glass pieces which were installed into buildings, furniture, wallpaper and his own typeface. He soon became part of a circle of established artists and architects who all had an interest in colour. Colour workshops at Bauhaus at this time were focuses on harmonising and connecting colour and musical tone through body movements. Theories underpinned these studies, one of the most influential to Albers was Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s ‘Die Farbenlehre’ (translates to theory of colour) which became the basis of Albers’ teaching in colour. Albers’ writing on colour was often referred to as colour theory however he tried to avoid this label as much as possible. When teaching Albers focused on context, contiguity and relationship between elements in particular shape, space, colour and texture. In 1956 Albers was introduced to the screen printing process and this lead to multiple pieces of his work being produced in this way. In 1963 Alber published his book ‘Interaction of Color’ in this book Albers’ fascination with colour is obvious. He looks at the way light colours on light grounds and dark colours on dark ground prove that the light of a ground subtracts in the same way its hue does.