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I-S d

Print
1969 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Josef Albers became one of the most influential figures of the 20th century avant-garde. He worked in a variety of media but has become widely recognised through his later printed work, based on the exploration of colour.

In 1949 he wrote a definitive text on colour theory and soon after began work on the series of coloured squares and rectangles which came to dominate his work and which explored the idea of colour as an illusion, depending on context. "We do not see colours as they really are" he wrote "in our perception they alter one another" Although he began his experiments in this field with paint, he came to depend on the planographic print processes, particularly screen-print, because through them consistent evenness of colour could be produced easily and with great speed.


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleI-S d (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
colour screen print
Brief description
Josef Albers: I-S c. colour screenprint. 1969.
Physical description
three coloured squares, 'nesting' within each other. The innermost one, seen in its entirety, is a bright yellow; the outermost one is greenish primrose yellow,, the one in the middle is a dark primrose yellow. The margins of the two outer squares are broad at the top and sides and narrower at the base.
Dimensions
  • Printed surface height: 34.9cm
  • Pritned surface width: 34.9cm
  • Sheet height: 54.5cm
  • Sheet width: 54.6cm
Style
Production typeLimited edition
Copy number
4/125
Marks and inscriptions
A '69 I-S d 4/125 (Signed with the artist's initial, dated and inscribed with title, all in pencil. Blind stamped with the publisher's mark.)
Credit line
Given by the Josef Albers Foundation
Production
I-S = Ives Sillman. The prints designated 'I-S' were published by Ives Sillman. They were part of an open-ended series lettered 'a', 'b', 'c' etc. for identification.
Summary
Josef Albers became one of the most influential figures of the 20th century avant-garde. He worked in a variety of media but has become widely recognised through his later printed work, based on the exploration of colour.

In 1949 he wrote a definitive text on colour theory and soon after began work on the series of coloured squares and rectangles which came to dominate his work and which explored the idea of colour as an illusion, depending on context. "We do not see colours as they really are" he wrote "in our perception they alter one another" Although he began his experiments in this field with paint, he came to depend on the planographic print processes, particularly screen-print, because through them consistent evenness of colour could be produced easily and with great speed.
Associated object
Bibliographic reference
Catalogue Raisonne: Nicholas Fox-Weber [Ed.] Brenda Danilowitz: The Prints of Josef Albers 1915-1976. Hudson Hills Press, New York. 2006. Cat. no. 190
Collection
Accession number
E.61-1994

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Record createdMarch 20, 2009
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