© The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Currently not on view
Variant Three,
1969
Josef Albers, 1888–1976; born Bottrop, Germany; died New Haven, CT; active Weimar, Germany, and New Haven
x1977-131.3
“In visual perception a color is almost never seen as it really is—as it physically is. This fact makes color the most relative medium in art,” wrote Albers in his 1963 book The Interaction of Color. Albers was interested in the perception of color, particularly the way that colors affect each other. According to the theory of simultaneous contrast, one color can change how we perceive the tone and hue of another when the two
are placed side by side. For Albers, engagement with such ideas led to a lifelong interest in color studies, the practice of testing color juxtapositions to explore their perceptual effects. Screenprinting proved an ideal medium to test these concepts, as each plane of color is printed one at a time, allowing the artist to layer hues in myriad combinations.
are placed side by side. For Albers, engagement with such ideas led to a lifelong interest in color studies, the practice of testing color juxtapositions to explore their perceptual effects. Screenprinting proved an ideal medium to test these concepts, as each plane of color is printed one at a time, allowing the artist to layer hues in myriad combinations.
Information
Title
Variant Three
Dates
1969
Maker
Medium
Screenprint
Dimensions
sheet: 71 × 91 cm (27 15/16 × 35 13/16 in.)
frame: 75.5 × 101 × 3.2 cm (29 3/4 × 39 3/4 × 1 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Hobart D. Betts III, Class of 1956
Object Number
x1977-131.3
Place Depicted
North America, United States, Connecticut, New Haven
Inscription
Signed and dated in graphite below image, lower right: Albers '69
Inscribed and numbered in graphite below image, lower left: I - S Va 3 59//150
Reference Numbers
Danilowitz 192.3
Culture
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