Josef Albers Quotes

German-American designer, painter, educator and typographer (1888–1976)

Josef Albers (March 19, 1888 – March 26, 1976) was a German artist, mathematician and art teacher [at Bauhaus ], whose work - in Europe and later in the United States - formed the basis of an influential and far-reaching art education program of the 20th century. He became a leading figure of Black Mountain College in the U.S.

From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Alternative Names: Joseph Albers • Albers

From Wikidata (CC0)

Showing quotes in randomized order to avoid selection bias. Click Popular for most popular quotes.

THE ORIGIN OF ART: The discrepancy between physical fact and psychic effect. THE CONTENT OF ART: Visual information of our reaction to life. THE MEASURE OF ART: The ratio of effort to effect. THE AIM OF ART: Revelation and evocation of vision.

I say all the time, if I sell that to you, you pay me for 3 colors. And I sell you 4, I betray you. Not to cheat you, but to pet you. You see I betray you in a positive way. I make you see more than there is. And that's in all my art that way. Absolutely something else. And that's what my book is about. You never see what you see. I lead you to see something else. And therefore I direct you. That's help.

I did not teach painting but seeing. I concentrated on the basic courses for beginners. I taught drawing (purposely without nudes), color (without any painting as such) and design (as 'structural organization'). And so the graduate students came 'down' to the basic courses for beginners.