Josef Albers (1888-1976), Study For Homage to the Square: R – III a – 6. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2014
signed with the artist’s monogram and dated ‘68’ (lower right); signed, titled and dated ‘Study for Homage to the Square R-III a-6 Albers’ 1968’ (on the reverse); oil on masonite; 32 x 32in. (81.3 x 81.3cm.). Painted in 1968. Estimate£250,000 – £350,000 ($413,000 - $578,200)
Provenance: The Artist.
Maximilian Schell, Preitenegg (acquired directly from the artist, December 1972).
Erna Baumbauer, Siegsdorf (acquired from the above, December 1990) and thence by descent to the present owner in September 1995.
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE GERMAN COLLECTION
Exhibited: Dusseldorf, Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Josef Albers, 1970, p. 58, no. 127.
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Josef Albers: An Exhibition Of His Paintings And Prints, 1971-1972, p. 67, no. 79 (illustrated, p. 23).
New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Josef Albers: A Retrospective, 1988, no. 238 (illustrated in colour, p. 279). This exhibition later travelled to Baden-Baden, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden; Berlin, The Bauhaus Archiv and Finland, The Pori Art Museum.
Munich, The Villa Stuck, Anni und Josef Albers, 1990, no. 107 (illustrated in colour, p. 103).
This work will be included in the forthcoming Josef Albers Catalogue Raisonné being prepared by The Anni and Josef Albers Foundation.
Notes: ‘If one says ‘Red’ (the name of a color) and there are 50 people listening, it can be expected that there will be 50 reds in their minds. And one can be sure that all these reds will be very different’ (J. Albers, quoted in Formulation: Articulation, New York 2006, p. 21).
Christie's. POST-WAR AND CONTEMPORARY ART EVENING AUCTION. 13 February 2014. London, King Street - www.christies.com