Nonfiction Monday

Nonfiction Monday is hosted today by InstantlyInterruptible.

For Nonfiction Monday --  "An eye for color: the story of Josef Albers" by Natasha Wing and illustrated by Julia Breckenreid.

 

Wing offers readers a thoughtful look at the life and work of Josef Albers, a man she first knew as the kindly gentleman who strolled her childhood neighborhood.  Only in later years would she come to understand the remarkable life that Albers led from his days as part of the German Bauhaus Movement in the 1920s to a nearly thirty yearlong study of color.  He began his experiment, titled Homage to the Square, to determine the way colors reacted when placed side by side and noted the optical illusions and the effect of afterimages that occurred as a result. His study culminated in the 1963 publication of his book, Interaction of Color, which forever changed the way the way artists understand color theory.

A comprehensive Author's Note, photographs, and Glossary complete the book.

Breckenreid's paintings illustrate Albers' life and demonstrate his painting style which utilized flat colors and geometric shapes.