Anni Albers

Anni AlbersUntitled Wallhanging, 1924Cotton and silk, (66 13/16 x 39 1/2 in.)

Illustration: Anni Albers 1925

Anni Albers, Wall hanging, 1926Silk. 189.9 x 122 cm (72 x 48 inches)

She was a student at the Bauhaus from 1922 where she meet Josef Albers. She received her Diploma in 1930, then was Assistant Director of weaving.

Anni Albers, Black-White-Red, 1964Reproduction of a 1927 original. Cotton and silk.

175 x 118 cm (68.875 x 46.437 inches)Bauhaus-Archiv, Berlin

“Courage is an important factor in any creative effort”

“Unburdened by any considerations of practical application, this uninhibited play with materials results in amazing objects, strikingly in their newness of conception in regard to the use of color and composition elements-objects of often barbaric beauty”

“One of the outstanding characteristics of the Bauhaus has been, to my mind, an unprejudiced attitude toward materials and their inherent capacities. ”

Textiles of an unusual kind were developed and a new style was emerging.

The Bauhaus artists were creating textiles that were purely artistic and had no practical purpose. As time change the focus of the Bauhaus changed. Only the creative mind can bring about the transformation of such rational recognition into a material form.

Physical characteristics of materials now moved into center of interest. Light-reflection and sound –absorption materials were developed. Unity became the keynote of work, and with it the desire to reach a wider public than before.

Anni Albers, With Verticals, 1946155 x 118 cm (61 x 46.5 inches)

Anni Albers is irrevocably associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement. There she investigated weaving materials and their properties systematically, something reflected in her teaching lifelong. Some saw her as using unorthodox materials for weaving, a new idea then but in sync with the Bauhaus philosophy.

Anni Albers, Monte Alban, 1936Silk, linen, and wool. 146 x 112 cm (57-3/8 x 44 inches)

Anni married Bauhaus artist Josef Albers in 1925 and in 1933 when the Bauhaus closed they immigrated to the US,

Anni Albers, Black-White-Gold I, 1950Cotton, jute and metallic ribbon.63.5 x 48.3 cm (25 x 19 inches)

Anni Albers, Development in Rose I, 1952Cotton and hemp complex leno weave

55.9 x 43.2 cm (22 x 17 inches)

“Free experimentation can result in the fulfillment of an inner urge to give form and to give permanence to ideas…”

“The more possibilities for attack the material offers in its appearance and in its structural elements, the more it can call forth imagination and productiveness. Weaving is an example of a craft which is many-sided.”

Anni Albers, Tikal, 1958Cotton, plain and leno weave.

76.2 x 58.42 cm (30 x 23 inches)

Josef was appointed Professor of Painting and Anni Assistant Professor of Art, at the new and progressive Black Mountain College in North Carolina. While teaching at Black Mountain Anni had worked on industrial prototypes for textiles

Anni Albers, Variation on a Theme, 1958Cotton, linen and plastic.

87.6 x 77.5 cm (34.5 x 30.5 inches)

“Independence presume a spirit of adventurousness- a faith in one’s own strength.”

Anni Albers, From the East, 1963Cotton and plastic65.4 x 42 cm (25 x 16.5 inches)

Anni Albers, Six Prayers, 1965Cotton, linen, and bast. 185.4 x 50.8 cm (73 x 20 inches)

Collection of The Jewish Museum, New York.

In 1965 Anni Albers was commissioned by The Jewish Museum to make an art work honoring the six million Jewish victims of the Nazi concentration camps. Six Prayers creates the impression of a sea of humanity—an infinity of human lives. One feels the connections and connectedness, the force of life itself. The six panels seem to pulse with blood, to breathe, even to evoke sound. The tone is suitably somber and elegiac, befitting the tragedy that this interlacing of thread and movement of abstract forms so effectively commemorates.

Anni Albers fabric by Knoll TextilesAnni Albers began a three decades long collaboration with the internationally recognized design company Knoll in 1951. During the course of this partnership, Knoll released five of Anni's designs: Track, Rail, Lattice, Jhet and Eclat. Originally designed in 1974 as an upholstery pattern, Anni Albers' Eclat, was first produced printed on a cotton/ linen ground in various scales and color combinations. Reintroduction into the market as part of Knoll's 60th anniversary archival collection celebration in June 2007, Eclat, renamed Eclat Weave, is now produced as a woven, rather than printed, upholstery.

Anni Albers, DR XX, 1974Ink and Pencil on Paper. JAAF: 1994.10.58

64.5 x 49.8cm (25.375 x 19.625 inches)

•In1949 they moved to NYC where Anni was the first weaver to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.•In 1950 when Josef was appointed Chair of the Dept. of Design at Yale University, they move to CT. Anni began work as a freelance, designing textiles for Knoll International.

Anni Albers, DR XX (B), 1975Red Ink on Paper

64.8 x 49.5cm (25.5 x 19.5 inches)

•Anni wrote two books, On Designing (1959) and On Weaving (1965).•Josef died in 1976 and Anni in 1994 at the age of 95.•In addition to a number of honorary doctorates she was also awarded the Gold Medal of the American Crafts Council for ‘uncompromising excellence.’

Anni Albers, Second Movement V, 1978Etching/Aquatint

71 x 71 cm (28 x 28 inches)