This publication presents a wealth of in part entirely unknown colored works on paper by Josef Albers (1888–1976), documented here for the first time. It was not until the German-born artist emigrated to the United States that he emerged as a prominent artist and influential teacher. Beginning in about 1940, Albers allowed himself to be inspired by Mexico’s pre-Columbian architecture, sculpture, and textile art, which led to a liberation of his aesthetic sensibilities and to unconventional, radiant pitches of color, the likes of which modern painting in Europe had never seen before. In circa 1950, he then discovered the square, which in his eyes was the ideal form for color. The artist was both a resolute painter as well as a color philosopher. Each of the works on paper presented here arouses a sensuous fascination for the phenomenality of color. (English edition ISBN 978-3-7757-2587-3) Exhibition schedule: Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München December 16, 2010–March 3, 2011 | Josef Albers Museum Quadrat Bottrop, March 20–June 19, 2011 | Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, July 1–August 31, 2011 | Kunstmuseum Basel, Kupferstichkabinett, November 5, 2011–January 29, 2012 | Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, Februar–April 2012 | CAM – Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lissabon, April–June 2012 | The Morgan Library & Museum, New York July–October 2012
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