“Mexico is truly the promised land of abstract art.”
Josef Albers
Peggy Guggeneheim Collection
Albers in Mexico
At the Peggy Guggenehim Collection the exhibition Albers in Mexico, curated by Lauren Hinkson, until September 3, illuminates the relationship between the forms and design of pre-Columbian monuments and the art of Josef Albers (1888 - 1976). It also includes a rich selection of photographs and photo-collages, created by Albers in response to frequent visits to Mexicanarchaeological sites beginning in the 1930s. With letters, studies, and unseen personal photographs Josef Albers in Mexico presents an opportunity to learn about the least known aspect of his practice, photography, offering new perspective on his most celebrated abstract works.
Luminous Day – 1947-52 – oil on Masonite
Pink-Orange Surrounded by 4 Grays – 1947-52 – oil on Masonite
Variant/Adobe -1947-52 – oil on Masonite
http://www.guggenheim-venice.it/exhibitions/albers/index.html
Albers in Mexico
Anni and Josef Albers – Mitla – 1956
Josef Albers - Mitla – 1935-39
Anni Albers – Monte Alban – 1939
Siegfried and Toni Fleischmann + unidentified people
Teotihuacan – 1937
"In art, tradition is to create, not to revive.”
Josef Albers
Untitled Abstraction – ca. 1940 – oil on blotting paper
The works inspired by his decades of travel in Mexicoreflect his deep affinities with ancient art while exemplifying a modernist ethic of rigorous experimentation in form, composition, and color theory.
Copyright Josef Albers - SIAE 2018 – courtesy PGC
Josef Albers
Grand Pyramid – Tenayuca - 1937
Gelatin silver print - photograph
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum – N.Y. - Gift, The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation
To Monte Alban – 1942 – Lithograph
Josef Alber's encounters with the ruins of Mexico deepened his interest in photography and advanced his experiments in abstract art. He took thousands of pictures on his travels, later combining many of these images to produce photo-collages with grid-likecompositions. This body of work illuminates the indelible impact Albers time in Mexico had on his larger practice.
Masonry “Serpent” Sculptures – surrounding the base
Grand Pyramid – Tenayuca – ca. 1935-39
Gelatin silver prints – photographs
Tenayuca I – 1942 – oil on Masonite
Copyright Josef Albers - SIAE 2018 – courtesy PGC
Josef Albers
Mitla - 1956
Gelatin silver prints and postcards, mounted to paperboard
The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation
Homage to the Square
Open (b) – December 1940 - oil on Masonite
