Seclusion
1942
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
lithograph in black on Serir wove paper
Dimensions
image: 30.48 × 31.75 cm (12 × 12 1/2 in.) sheet: 48.26 × 60.96 cm (19 × 24 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Josef Albers
Accession Number
1975.20.7
Art Historical Context
**Seclusion** by Josef Albers, created in 1942, is a striking black lithograph on Serir w paper, measuring 30.48 × 31.75 cm for the image and 48.26 × 60.96 cm for the full sheet. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's Department of Modern Prints (CG-W) as a generous gift from the artist himself this work exemplifies Albers' mastery of printmaking during a pivotal era. Lithography, a planographic technique invented in the late 18th century, allowed Albers to achieve precise tonal gradations and subtle textures in monochrome, highlighting form and composition without color's distraction. Josef...
About the Artist
Josef Albers
Josef Albers, born on March 19, 1888, in Bottrop, Westphalia, into a Roman Catholic family of craftsmen, received early practical training from his father, Lorenzo Albers, a housepainter and carpenter, mastering skills in engraving glass, plumbing, wiring, and printmaking. After working as a schoolteacher in Bottrop from 1908 to 1913, he trained as an art teacher at the Königliche Kunstschule in B...