The German-born Josef Albers (1888-1976) was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. His work with colour and geometric form gave rise to many new ideas about space in visual perception. In 1933 he emigrated to the USA, where he settled. This woodcut shows him working toward the totally geometric abstraction that characterised his work from the 1960s. Albers made the first of fourteen visits to Mexico in 1935 and was much influenced by the art and architecture of that country. Tlaloc was a Mexican god of water and Albers used the pattern of the grain in the wood to suggest the surface of water. The spidery geometry of a figure hanging above it gives an ambiguous depth to the pictorial space.