Color: A Magic Power; an exhibition AAA Library prepared in conjunction with the course Color Theory and Application IARC 447/547, Spring 2013 Esther Hagenlocher, instructor

COLOR:  A MAGIC POWER

featuring Interaction of Color
from the Architecture & Allied Arts Library

an exhibit in the UO Architecture & Allied Arts Library
prepared in conjunction with the course
Color Theory and Application IARC 447/547, Spring 2013
Esther Hagenlocher, instructor

The plates on display from March 5 through spring term 2013 are from the classic work Interaction of Color, by Josef Albers, first published in 1963 by Yale University Press, and housed in the Secure Collection of the Architecture & Allied Arts Library.

Josef Albers, from ARTStor, artstor.org

Josef Albers (1888-1976)

was a German-born artist, educator, and color theorist. He both studied and eventually taught at the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany.  When the Bauhaus was forced to close in 1933, Albers immigrated to the United States and began teaching at the newly founded Black Mountain College near Asheville, North Carolina.

In 1950, Albers moved to Connecticut and became the chairman of the Department of Design at the Yale University School of Art, a position he held until 1958. These teaching positions, along with visiting positions at art schools across the U. S. and Europe, allowed Albers to influence a generation of artists and art educators. Albers remained in the U. S. and continued to work as an artist until his death in 1976.

The Interaction of Color allows users to experience firsthand Albers’ teachings of color relationships and visual human perception.

Further Reading

• Albers, Josef. Interaction of Color. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1963.
• Albers, Josef, and Nicholas Fox Weber. Josef Albers: A Retrospective. New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1988.
• The Josef & Anni Albers Foundation, www.albersfoundation.org/

The exhibit was conceived and prepared by Kathryn LaNasa, Architecture graduate student, Esther Hagenlocher, professor, Architecture Department, Ed Teague, Head, AAA Library, with assistance from Cristian Boboia, UO Libraries Exhibits.

Visit the Architecture and Allied Arts Library, University of Oregon.