Josef Albers

Josef Albers (1888–1976) was a German-born American artist and educator whose career spanned from the Bauhaus in Germany to Black Mountain College and Yale University in the United States. He first trained as a teacher, then studied art in Berlin, Essen, and Munich before enrolling at the Bauhaus in Weimar in 1920. At the Bauhaus, he became a master in 1925, teaching introductory courses and working in the glass studio. After the Bauhaus closed in 1933, Albers emigrated to the United States, where he joined the faculty at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. There, he established an art program and taught until 1949, mentoring artists such as Robert Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly. In 1950, he was appointed head of the design department at Yale University, where he continued to develop his theories on color and perception. His best-known work is the “Homage to the Square” series, which he began in 1950 and continued until his death.