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Homage to the Square

Josef Albers

Contemporary Art

Josef Albers’s Homage to the Square series is a study of the illusionistic effects of color. Starting with the rigorous geometry of nested squares, Albers created these works by applying paint directly from the tube and spreading it onto the Masonite board with a palette knife. The juxtaposed slabs of color play off one another, as some squares seem to recede into space while others float into the foreground. Albers pursued this study of color and perception from 1950 until his death, producing nearly a thousand canvases in the series.
MEDIUM Oil on masonite
  • Place Made: United States
  • DATES 1957
    DIMENSIONS 18 × 18 in. (45.7 × 45.7 cm) frame: 18 1/4 × 18 1/4 × 1 in. (46.4 × 46.4 × 2.5 cm)  (show scale)
    SIGNATURE Recto: initialed and dated lower right corner: A 57 Verso: title, signature, dimensions, date, color notes
    COLLECTIONS Contemporary Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 1995.197.1
    CREDIT LINE Gift of The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION JAF #348
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Josef Albers (American, 1888–1976). Homage to the Square, 1957. Oil on masonite, 18 × 18 in. (45.7 × 45.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, 1995.197.1. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1995.197.1_SL3.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 1995.197.1_SL3.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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