Accession Number
2016/1.199

Title
To Monte Alban

Artist(s)
Josef Albers

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1942

Medium & Support
zinc plate lithograph on paper

Dimensions
13 5/16 in x 10 3/8 in (33.81 cm x 26.35 cm);25 in x 21 1/4 in (63.5 cm x 53.98 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Dr. Seymour and Barbara K. Adelson

Label copy
These three lithographs by Josef Albers were made during his time as a faculty member at Black Mountain College, North Carolina, an important institution for the development of modernist art in the United States. Albers had previously taught at the Bauhaus school of design, architecture, and applied arts in Germany, before the Nazi takeover forced him to emigrate. At Black Mountain, he continued to teach the Bauhaus curriculum, pushing students to notice that things as varied as cigarette box labels and a handcrafted chair were designed with equal care. Such attention to the construction of things can be seen in these prints, in which simple black lines and white spaces are used to represent forms that look architectural. Though abstract, these minimal forms are reminiscent of mounds, pyramids, and shrines that Albers and his wife visited during their travels to pre-Columbian  archaeological sites. 

Physical Description
Lithograph of a rectangular design consisting of vertical and horizontal lines with a smaller rectangle in both the upper left and lower right corners. 

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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