I-S d
Print
1969 (made)
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.
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 | |
Title | I-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 |
|
Style | |
Production type | Limited 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 created | March 20, 2009 |
Record URL |
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