Josef Albers papers
name: label: Creator
content: Albers, Josef
label: Names
content: Baltimore Museum of Art
label: Names
content: Maryland Institute, College of Art
label: Names
content: Albers, Anni
label: Names
content: Arp, Jean, 1887-1966
label: Names
content: Leake, Eugene, 1911-
label: Names
content: Tyler, Kenneth E.
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art teachers
label: Occupation
content: Painters
label: Topic
content: Art -- Study and teaching
label: Topic
content: Art -- Philosophy
label: Topic
content: Printmakers
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Josef Albers papers were donated by the artist in 1969 and 1970. A small collection of additional Albers papers and an audio recording of a lecture with an unknown provenance were integrated.
creator: label: Creator
content: Albers, Josef
setName: label: See more items in
content: Josef Albers papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of painter, printmaker, and art teacher Josef Albers date from 1929 to 1970 and measure 1.5 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical materials, writings, a recorded lecture, and photographs. The bulk of the collection consists of printed materials.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Josef Albers (1888-1976) of Dessau, Germany, Black Mountain, North Carolina, and New Haven, Connecticut, was a painter, printmaker, and art teacher advocating a disciplined approach to composition, form, and color.

Josef Albers was born on March 19, 1888 in Bottrop, Westphalia, Germany, the only child of Lorenz Albers, a housepainter, and Magdelena (Schumacher) Albers. He attended the Präparanden-Schule in Langenhorst from 1902 to 1905 and then the teachers college in Büren, graduating in 1908. He became an instructor in several Westphalian primary schools.

Albers studied at the Royal Art School in Berlin, the Arts and Crafts School (Folkwang School) in Essen, and at the Art Academy in Munich under Franz Stuck before enrolling at the Bauhaus in Weimar in 1920. In 1923, he became an instructor and in 1925, when the school was transplanted to Dessau, he became a Bauhausmeister, teaching his fundamental design course. He remained in that position in Dessau and Berlin until 1933, when under pressure from National Socialism, the school was shut down. In that year, Albers emigrated to the United States, becoming a professor of painting at Black Mountain College in North Carolina.

In 1949, Albers moved to Yale University where he taught in the Department of Design and served as Chairman of the Art Department. Following his retirement in 1960, Albers continued to live in New Haven with his wife, textile artist Anni Albers.

Albers served as a guest teacher in Ulm, Germany, and in many colleges and art schools in the United States, Mexico, and South America. He was also an author of poems and books concerning art theory.

Josef Albers died on March 25, 1976 in New Haven, Connecticut.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1.5 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1929-1970
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.albejose
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Transcripts
label: Type
content: Poems
label: Type
content: Interviews
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 4 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1957-1970 (3 folders; Box 1)

Series 2: Writings and Lecture, 1936-1967 (5 folders; Box 1)

Series 3: Printed Material, 1929-1969 (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)

Series 4: Photographs, circa 1968 (1 folder; Box 2)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Portions of the collection were microfilmed to reels N69-139 - N69-140, N70-48, and 2786. All accretions and two small small collections with an unknown provenance were merged and processed by Jean Fitzgerald in 2010. The collection was processed for digitization by Megan Bean and digitized in 2016. Funding for the digitization of the collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2016 and is available on the Archives of American Art's website.  Materials which have not been scanned include blank pages and duplicates.  In some cases, exhibition catalogs and other publications have had their covers, title pages, and relevant pages scanned.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Transcripts
label: Genre/Form
content: Poems
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of painter, printmaker, and art teacher Josef Albers date from 1929 to 1970 and measure 1.5 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical materials, writings, a recorded lecture, and photographs. The bulk of the collection consists of printed materials. 

Biographical material consists of a curriculum vitae, bibliographic lists, a transcript of a "Yale Reports" radio interview in which Albers discusses art as a port of general education, and a photocopy of a letter from Eugene W. Leake of the Maryland Institute discussing a work by Albers in the Baltimore Museum.

Writings and Lectures are primarily photocopies of poems and typescripts by Albers concerning his theories on art, as well as an sound tape reel recording of Albers delivering a lecture at Yale University. There are also photocopied typescripts about Albers written by others including a typescript "Josef Albers" by Hans Jean Arp.

Printed material primarily consists of clippings and exhibition announcements and catalogs, some of which are annotated by Albers. There are also two exhibition catalogs for Anni Albers, press releases, a copy of poetry publication Origin 8, 2 books by Albers, Embossed Linear Compositions and Josef Albers: Poems and Drawings, the book American Abstract Artists, 1936-1966, and miscellaneous brochures.

Photographs consist of two copies of the same image of Josef Albers pin registering one of his prints with Tamarind artisan Ken Tyler.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Also found in the Archives is an oral history interview with Albers conducted by Sevim Fesci in 1968, and a collection of letters from Albers to J. B. Naumann that was loaned to the Archives by the Brooklyn Museum for microfilming and is available on microfilm reel 911.