Pantone: Josef Albers

Use of Colour
Famous for the extensive theoretical work into the idea that colour, rather than form, is the primary medium of pictorial language, Josef Alber profoundly influenced the development of modern art during the 1950s and 1960s.

Albers believed that the most critical characteristic of colour is its instability. When placed next to different neighbouring colour, the perception changes dramatically. It was also thought that the most critical characteristic of colour it its stability and how in natural light the way it is perceived completely changes. His own work also led him on to discover that a large amount of colour appeared to be a different colour than a small amount of the same colour.

fig. 1

'Homage to the square' used a single geometric shape to systematically explore the vast range of visual effects that could be achieved through colour and spatial relationships alone. The series has over 1000 related works, which Albers began in 1949 and continued to develop until his death in 1976. The approach explores the mutability of human perception and the range of optical and psychological effects that colours alone can produce depending on their position and proximity to one another.

He chose to work with a single, repeated geometric shape (fig. 1) allowing the focus to only be on the relativity of colour. The juxtaposition, placement and interaction with other colours was changed which dramatically changed the way in which the same colour was perceived.

I chose to show some of my colour swatch in the same style as Albers, as seen in figure 2. This made it clear to me that the interaction with other colours can dramatically change the way in which the same colour is perceived. Having the largest square a light shade instantly made all of the other colours appear to be more pale than when placed on the dark background. It is only when they are placed very close to each other that it is clear that they are the same 3 colours. 

fig. 2