WLS VII 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: 52.6 x 52.6 cm (20 11/16 x 20 11/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Benjamin B. Smith
Accession Number
1985.47.7
Art Historical Context
Josef Albers' *WLS VII from White Squares (Series I)* created in 1966, the artist's lifelong fascination with color perception and geometric form. A pioneer of the Bauhaus movement and influential educator at Black Mountain College and Yale,bers devoted decades to exploring how colors interact and deceive the eye, most famously in his *Homage to the Square series. This color lithograph continues that pursuit, featuring precisely nested squares outlined in white lines against vibrant hues, creating optical illusions that shift with viewing distance or angle. Printed on fine Arches Cover wove p...
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...