In 1936, when teaching at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, Albers wrote, "I believe now it is time...that we move from looking at art as a part of history to an understanding of art as a part of life." He had brilliantly demonstrated this understanding previously in his photographs. This photomontage, made of images taken during El Lissitzsky's visit to the Bauhaus in 1928, describes the present as a mosaic of preceding moments suspended over the Russian artist's head. The visual mosaic works in the same manner as the bubbles that carry the unuttered thoughts of cartoon characters.
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Inscription: Signed and inscribed in pencil on mount, below largest print, recto LL, LR: "El Lissitzki", "VI. 30"; inscribed in pencil on 2nd mount, verso C: "JAF 62"; inscribed in pencil on 2nd mount, verso LC: "AFA 2983 #1";
Josef Albers Foundation to Waddell, June 13, 1988; John C. Waddell
The photographs were taken at the Bauhaus in 1928. The collage was made in 1930.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 23–December 31, 1989.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 28–April 22, 1990.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 10–July 15, 1990.
High Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 5–April 28, 1991.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 8–August 4, 1991.
IVAM, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia. "The New Vision, IVAM, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia," January 20, 1995–March 26, 1995.
Sprengel Museum Hannover. "El Lissitsky: Beyond the Abstract Cabinet," January 17, 1999–April 5, 1999.
Fundacao de Serralves, Porto. "El Lissitsky: Beyond the Abstract Cabinet," September 16, 1999–November 7, 1999.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Portraits: A Century of Photographs," September 10, 2002–January 13, 2003.
Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona. "L'action restreinte," May 13, 2004–September 5, 2004.
Tate Modern. "Albers and Moholy-Nagy: From the Bauhaus to the New World," March 9, 2006–June 4, 2006.
Kunsthalle Bielefeld. "Albers and Moholy-Nagy: From the Bauhaus to the New World," June 25, 2006–October 8, 2006.
Whitney Museum of American Art. "Albers and Moholy-Nagy: From the Bauhaus to the New World," November 2, 2006–January 21, 2007.
Josef Albers (American (born Germany), Bottrop 1888–1976 New Haven, Connecticut)
1963
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