I-S Va[riant].IV. Plate 4 from the suite of 6 entitled 'Six Variants'
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 Va[riant].IV. Plate 4 from the suite of 6 entitled 'Six Variants' |
| Materials and techniques | Colour lithograph |
| Brief description | Print - Josef Albers: I-S Va.IV from the suite Six Variants. 1969 |
| Physical description | Format rectangular (landscape) with nesting rectangles of colour. Included within this pattern is a bar shape with 'towers' or uprights at either end, also consisting of overlayered or nesting bands of colour. Colours predominantly oranges. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Copy number | 13/150 |
| Marks and inscriptions | Albers '69 I-S Va IV
13/150 (Signed, dated, inscribed with title and numbered, all in pencil.
Blind stamped with publisher's mark) |
| Credit line | Given by the Josef Albers Foundation |
| Production | I-S = Ives Sillman. This prefix was used for an open-ended series of prints produced by the publishing house Ives Sillman |
| 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 objects | |
| Bibliographic reference | Catalogue Raisonné: Nicholas Fox-Weber [Ed.] Brenda Danilowitz: The Prints of Josef Albers 1915-1976. Hudson Hills Press, New York. 2001. Cat. no. 192.4 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.63:4-1994 |
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| Record created | April 1, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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