Anni and Josef Albers: Equal and Unequal

By Nicholas Fox Weber

"This handsome, cloth-bound visual biography celebrates the prolific output and fascinating relationship of Anni and Josef Albers, two pioneers of modern art and design."—Galerie

"An ideal gift for the artist couple on your list."—The Strategist

"This volume—the first to be fully dedicated to the couple—traces their relationship through rarely seen photographs, collages, paintings and weavings, which form a visual biography of the duo."—The Financial Times, How to Spend It

A spectacular and unprecedented visual biography of the leading pioneers and protagonists of modern art and design.

Josef—painter, designer, and teacher—and Anni Albers—textile artist and printmaker are among the twentieth century's most important abstract artists, and this is the first— monograph to celebrate the rich creative output and beguiling relationship of these two masters in one elegant volume. It presents their life and work as never before, from their formative years at the Bauhaus in Germany to their remarkable influence at Black Mountain College in the United States through their intensely productive period in Connecticut.

Accessibly written, the book is packed with more than 750 artworks, archival images, and documents—many published here for the first time—all tracing the remarkable lives and careers of this legendary couple.

Dispersed throughout area series of short essays on artists that focuses on the Albers' relationship with a number of important artists and architects of the 20th century, like Ruth Asawa, Marcel Breuer, Merce Cunningham, Philip Johnson, Paul Klee, Jacob Lawrence, and many more.

The beautifully cloth-bound package utilizes an elegant color palette and design that speaks to the work of both artists. This comprehensive visual biography showcases the artists’ rich and dynamic lives, and their infinite influence on each other, as they shared the profound conviction that art was central to human existence.

Hardcover
512 pages | 750 illustrations
Phaidon Press, 2020
12 x 9.3 inches
ISBN 9781838661427
Artist Monographs, Textile Design, Design