Josef Albers : Midnight and Noon

Introduction by Nicholas Fox Weber. Texts by Josef Albers, Elaine de Kooning, and Colm Toibin.

Using minimal meanspaint straight from the tube, applied meticulously with a palette knifeand a focused selection of colours, Josef Alberss sustained, serial investigation into rhythm, mood, and spatial movement is explored in this lavishly produced catalogue that looks solely at his respective grey and yellow paintings, exploring two distinct color palettes pervasive to his oeuvre.

Highlighting the rich diversity of effects Albers drew from a narrow range of colors, this publication centers around the groundbreaking Homage to the Square (A) (1950), the inaugural painting in the series that would occupy the artist until his death in 1976. The pairing of two palettesblack, white, and grey and an array of yellowsstems in part from Albers's 1964 series of lithographs, Midnight and Noon, which brought together these two opposing colour sets in a single portfolio. Together they address the limitless possibilities the artist found in color and form in relation to light. The impossible simultaneity of midnight and noon moreover speaks to Alberss transcending of what he called factual facts in favor of the play of perception and illusion possible in art.

Opening with an introduction by Nicholas Fox Weber, executive director of The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, that contextualises these works and their color palettes, this volume also includes Alberss own writing on Homage to the Square. Additionally, Elaine de Koonings historic text and Colm Toibn's recent writing explore this body of work from different perspectives and time periods. Published on the occasion of exhibitions at David Zwirner's New York and London galleries in 2016 and 2017, this beautifully illustrated publication looks at one of the most influential abstract painters of the twentieth century.

Featured in the August 2018 Art newsletter.
To receive this newsletter regularly please email us with your name and contact details.