Label Text
Albers emigrated with his wife and artist, Anni Albers, from Germany to
North Carolina in 1933 to teach at Black Mountain College, an experimental
school where visual art was central to its mission. Albers left Black Mountain
in 1949 to teach at Yale University, and one year later, began his Homage to the Square series that would occupy him for more than
twenty-five years. Like others in the series, this painting’s composition seems
to speak to geometry, but it is actually concerned with perception. The
illusion of receding and advancing planes are at the core of the work, asking
the viewer to contemplate the meditative qualities of visual reception. October, 2020
Exhibition History"The Abstract Tradition in American Art," Des Moines Art Center, Dec. 7, 1991 - Feb. 23, 1992
Published ReferencesDES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ill. p.19, pl. 2
AN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. p.44, color ill. p.45
Exhibition History"The Abstract Tradition in American Art," Des Moines Art Center, Dec. 7, 1991 - Feb. 23, 1992
Published ReferencesDES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ill. p.19, pl. 2
AN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. p.44, color ill. p.45
DimensionsFrame: 32 7/16 × 32 7/16 × 1 1/4 in. (82.4 × 82.4 × 3.2 cm)
Canvas: 31 1/2 × 31 1/2 in. (80 × 80 cm)
Canvas: 31 1/2 × 31 1/2 in. (80 × 80 cm)
Accession Number 1984.9
Classificationspainting
CopyrightARS
SignedA '67 (l,r oil paint)
InscriptionsStudy for Homage to the Square: (verso u,r)
verso u,r extensive inscription documenting colors used
32 x 32" (verso u,l)
H2 (verso u,c upside down)
ProvenanceArtist; The Joseph Albers Foundation, Orange, CT; Des Moines Art Center [purchased from the previous, 1984]
