Homage to the Square: SP IV

 

Josef Albers

  1888 - 1976 (biography)

1967  

screenprint 

19 1/2 x 19 5/8" image 

pencil initialed "A" in lower right margin 

124 of 125  

pencil titled and editioned, lower left; dated after signature 

Danilowitz 175.4; M.121 D; Metropolitan Mus. of Art 1970.712.4(4); Whitney Museum of Art 68.1.4 

cream Schollers Hammer Board (illustration board) 

published 

Editions Domberger, Stuttgart, for Galerie der Spiegel, Cologne 

RIPE103 

$7,500.00 

This screenprint on Schöllers Hammer Board board is part of the "SP" portfolio, Number 4 from 1967, which consists of 12 screenprints. It was printed and published in an edition of 125 by Editions Domberger in Stuttgart, Germany, for Galerie der Spiegel in Cologne. It is catalogued as No. 175.4 in Brenda Danilowitz's catalogue raisonné, "The Prints of Josef Albers." This impression is pencil initialed in the lower right and is also pencil titled in the lower left margin.

Josef Albers created the "Homage to the Square" series—spanning over 1,000 works from 1950 until his death in 1976—primarily as a rigorous scientific and artistic experiment to explore the interaction of color. By keeping the nested square composition constant, Albers aimed to demonstrate that color is relative and perceived entirely based on its surroundings.

The specific layouts were designed to challenge visual reception. Certain color combinations created a "telescopic" effect, making some squares appear to project forward while others receded into the background. Albers chose the square because it is a man-made shape not found in nature, which allowed the viewer to focus entirely on the color without being distracted by representative imagery or organic forms.

The series was an extension of his teachings at Yale and Black Mountain College, helping students and the public learn the "mechanics of vision".