162
Since 1936 Adlcrhastaughtdrawingandpainting,andfrom 1948 tothepresent
hehasbeenaninstructorinFineArtsatNewYoricUniversity,boththeWashington
SquareCollegeandtheDivisionofGeneralEducation.HelivesinNewYorkCity.
ALBERS,Josef,HomagetotheSquare—EarlyYellow1951,24x24.
Illustration—Plate 16
"'Theconcernoftheartistiswiththediscrepancybetweenphysicalfactand
psychologicaleffect."
'"
"'Forme,'adds.Mbcrs,"atrianglehasaface.Ascjuare,acircle—anyelemental
form—hasfeaturesandthereforea"look."Theyactandprovokeourreactions,just
ascomplexforms,suchashumanorotherfacesandfiguresdo.Thatmanydon'tsee
thisisunfortunate—butdoesnotprovethecontrary.Manyarewillingtoseefeatures
indressorfurniture.Fewerareabletoacceptthateveryvisibleformandcolorhas
meaning.'"—ElainedeKooning,"AlbersPaintsaPicture,'ArtNews,Vol.XLIX,
Number7,Part 1 (November,1950),pp.40-41.
ForthepresentexhibitionAlbershaswritten,"Whetherwepreferrepresenta-
tionalorpresentationalart(thelattercommonlycalledabstractornon-objectiveart),
itprovesonlyprejudicestodeclaretheminimical..Xnditislittleconvincingwhen
convertstoeithersidecondemnorridiculeothersforholdingontoacoursethey
themselvesleft.
"Artalwayshasandwillcontinuetoexistonbothsidesnomatterwhetherthe
outsideworldorourinnerworldisthepointofdeparture;aslongasPersianrugs,
Moorishornaments,Cothicarchitectureandletteringhavebeenandwillbecon-
sideredart.
"Arttomeisvisualformulationofourreactiontotheworld,theuniverse,tolife.
Ashumanmentalitychangesfromperiodtoperiodaswellasfromindividualto
individual,theidiomsofartareasnumerousastherearearti.sts.Butcontemporaries
normallyrevealasimilarculturalclimate(consciouslyorunconsciously).
"Thepainterchoosestoarticulatewithorincolor.Somepaintersconsidercolor
anaccompanimentof,andthereforesubordinateto,formorotherpictorialcontent.
Toothers,andtodayagaininanincreasingnumber,coloristhestructuralmeansof
theirpictorialidiom.Herecolorbecomesautonomic.
"Mypaintingsarepresentativestudiesinthelatterdirection.Iaminterested
particularlyinthepsychiceffect—estheticexperience—causedbytheinteractionof
juxtaposedcolors.
"Allcolorpercepliciiiisillusii)iial.Duetoihcphysiological-psychologicalphenom-
enonoftheafter-imagewcdonotseecolorsaswhattheyfactuallyare.Inour
perceptiontheychangeeachothersothat,forinstance,twodifTerentcolorscanlook
alike,astwolikecolorslookdifTerent,oropaqueappearstranslucent,definite.shapes
become unrecognizable.This'acting'ofcolor—the ihange of identity isthe
objectiveofmystudy.Itleadsmetochangemycolorinstrumentation—mypalette
—frompaintingtopainting.Forthesamereason, 1 preferpl.iinareasofdefinite
shapeandplaincolorsastheycomefromthetube.
"Thecontentofmypaintings,therefore,isrclatcdness,asasymboloforder
opposingnegationanddefeatism.ConsequentlyIprefertopromotehopeinsteadof
fearanddespair.BecauseIbelievethatart,aparalleltolife—evenonacritical
level—isaffirmationoflife."
JosefAlberswasborninBottrop,Cermany,in1888.Hereceiveda"thorough
academictraining"attheRoyal.ArtSchoolinBerlinandalsostudiedattheSchool
