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Defense Date

1975

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Art Foundation

Abstract

Until the 1960s there was more interest in Josef Albers as an artist. Albers' successful teaching career began in 1923 at the Bauhaus where he was eventually placed in charge of the whole elementary course. Albers' American educational career centered around Black Mountain College in North Carolina and Yale University where he was chairman of the Department of Design.This paper, in effect, will deal with Albers as an artist, teacher, and theorist. Albers as an artist will be explored by a study of Homage to the Square, the series from which much of Albers' present fame is derived. Albers' color theory is contained in his writing, Interaction of Color, a book dedicated to his students which records his method of teaching color. It is the purpose of this paper to show Albers' theory and his paintings, Homage to the Square, exemplify many principles of perception: the realization that color experience is a subjective, inward experience, the Gestalt notions on "good" forms, and the awareness that our knowledge is of the perception of things -- not of things themselves. In order to pursue such a course of study, it will be necessary to investigate other color theories, theories of perception, Albers' work and evaluations of his works.

Comments

Part of Retrospective ETD Collection, restricted to VCU only.

Rights

© The Author

Is Part Of

VCU University Archives

Is Part Of

VCU Theses and Dissertations

Date of Submission

June 2008

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