WLS III from White Line Squares (Series I)
1966
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
color lithograph on Arches Cover wove paper
Dimensions
image: 40 x 40 cm (15 3/4 x 15 3/4 in.) sheet: 52.7 x 52.7 cm (20 3/4 x 20 3/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Benjamin B. Smith
Accession Number
1985.47.3
Art Historical Context
Josef Albers' *WLS III from White Squares (Series I)* created in 1966, the artist's lifelong fascination with color perception and geometric form. A pioneer of Bauhaus modernism and influential teacher at Black Mountain College and Yale Albers produced this color lithograph late in his career, just a decade before his death. of a series exploring squares framed by stark white lines, it continues his iconic *Homage to the Square investigations, where nested shapes reveal how colors shift dramatically based on juxtaposition—yellows might glow warmer next to cool tones, or edges vibrate with opti...
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...