Beschreibung:

Josef Albers 5 Greens and Blue 1947-54 oil on masonite 16 x 30 1/4 in. (40.6 x 76.8 cm) Initialed and dated "A 47-54" lower right; further signed, titled and dated "5 Greens and Blue Albers 47-54" on the reverse.
Provenance Sidney Janis Gallery, New York Theodore V. Marsters, Litchfield New York, Christie's, Post-War and Contemporary Art, November 14, 2002, lot 125 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner Literature This work is to be included in the forthcoming Catalogue raisonné of the Paintings of Josef Albers 1914–1976 being prepared by the Anni and Josef Albers Foundation. Catalogue Essay In Variant Five Greens and Blue, 1947-54, Joseph Albers empties abstraction of all but its essentials in order to meditate upon the experiential properties of color. He presents the spectator with a reductive, yet visually potent, composition of flat, interlocking rectangular planes. As the title indicates, this cool, geometric arrangement captures one blue hue amidst a spectrum of green tones. Known for using paints straight from the tube, Albers’ blue is a brilliantly saturated cobalt. Hunter, forest and emerald green occupy the rest of the canvas, with electric teal dominating the center. Despite its promise of simplicity, Albers’ work is infinitely mysterious. After sustained viewing, colors transform and pulsate, taking on new chromatic potency. Marine blue appears cooler when seen relative to various shades of green. Aqua green takes on a vivid, yellow warmth when set against a dark, emerald setting. Albers reflected, “What interests me most now is how colors change one another according to the proportions and quantities [I use]. I'm especially proud when [I can make] colors lose their identity and become unrecognizable.”(H. Liesbrock, Painting on Paper: Josef Albers in America, exh. cat., Ostfildern, 2011, pp. 32-33). In addition to exploring the properties and boundaries of color, Albers manipulates form. In the present lot, Albers shifts shapes minutely in order to avoid perfect symmetry. The work belongs to a group of oil paintings initiated in 1933 called the “Variant/Adobe” that concentrate on this volatility: “…On the whole, variants demonstrate, besides a sincere attitude, a healthy belief that there is no final solution in form; thus form demands unending performance and invites constant reconsideration--visually as well as verbally" (J. Albers, Interaction of Color, New Haven, 1963, p. 74). In every work belonging to this series, Albers presents a unique rearrangement of principle forms. The “Variant/Adobe” works take subtle inspiration from the adobe architecture Albers encountered during extensive travels to Mexico and Latin America in the 1930s and 1940s. Variant Five Greens and Blue, 1947-54 vaguely diagrams a low-slung house facade with windows or doors. By making this reference in a decidedly reduced language, Albers probes the relationship between representation and abstraction.Throughout his lifetime, Albers conducted formal experiments that would come to redefine visual perception in the modern era. Variant Five Greens and Blue, 1947-54 demonstrates the analytical mindset of Albers, a critical predecessor of minimalist, conceptual and op art. Read More