Josef Albers - Contemporary Art Part II New York Friday, November 16, 2007 | Phillips

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  • Provenance


    Private collection, Germany

  • Catalogue Essay


    In musical compositions,
    so long as we hear merely single tones, we do not hear music.
    Hearing music depends on the recognition of the in-between of the tones,
    of their placing and of their spacing.
    In writing, a knowledge of spelling has nothing to do with an understanding
    of poetry.
    Equally, a factual identification of colors within a given painting
    has nothing to do with a sensitive seeing
    nor with an understanding of the color action within the painting.
    Our study of color differs fundamentally from a study which anatomically
    dissects colorants (pigments) and physical qualities (wave length).
    Our concern is the interaction of color; that is, seeing
    what happens between colors.
    We are able to hear a single tone.
    But we almost never (that is, without special devises) see a single color
    unconnected and unrelated to other colors.
    Colors present themselves in continuous flux, constantly related to
    changing neighbors and changing conditions.
    As a consequence, this proves for the reading of color
    what Kandisky often demanded for the reading of art:
    what counts is not the what but the how.
    Josef Albers taken from Interaction of Color, New London:Yale University
    Press, 1963, p. 5.

165

Study to Homage to the Square: Elected

1956

Oil on masonite.

17 3/4 x 17 3/4 in. (45.1 x 45.1 cm).
Initialed and dated “A56” lower right; signed, titled and dated “Study to Homage to the Square ‘Elected’ Albers 1956” on the reverse. This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation and will be included in the forthcoming Josef Albers Catalogue Raisonne.

Estimate
$150,000 - 200,000 

Sold for $145,000

Contemporary Art Part II

16 Nov 2007, 10am & 2pm
New York