Josef Albers (b. 1888, Bottrop, Germany; d. 1976, New Haven, CT) played a key role in spreading modernist ideas, especially those of the Bauhaus movement, and helped shape the course of American modern art in the mid-1900s. He grew up learning practical skills from his father, a general contractor, which gave him a hands-on understanding of materials–this remained central to his art throughout his life.
Albers was born on March 19, 1888, in Bottrop, Germany. He began his formal art studies at the Bauhaus school in Weimar in 1920, where he experimented with stained glass, exploring how colors interact with each other—a theme that would define his career. His talent quickly stood out, and by 1923 he was invited to join the Bauhaus faculty. Just two years later, he became one of the school’s leading instructors.
When the Nazis forced the Bauhaus to close in 1933, Albers moved to the United States. He began teaching at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, an influential school known for its experimental approach to art and education. Later, he became the head of the design department at Yale University. In both roles, he emphasized careful, hands-on exploration, pushing students to think critically about how we see and understand visual elements—especially color.
One of his most famous projects, Homage to the Square, features simple square shapes in different colors. These paintings demonstrate how colors can change based on what’s around them, challenging the idea that the perception of color is fixed. For Albers, color was about context—how one shade might look different next to another. His 1963 book Interaction of Color became a landmark guide for artists and designers and is still widely used today.
Albers’ work was celebrated during his lifetime. In 1964, the Museum of Modern Art in New York held a major exhibition of Homage to the Square, and in 1971, the Metropolitan Museum of Art honored him with a full career retrospective—the first time they did so for a living artist. Through both his teaching and his art, Albers helped shift the focus of modern art toward exploring how we perceive the world visually. His clear, geometric style and deep study of color continue to influence artists and educators around the world.