Interaction of Color: 50th Anniversary Edition

by Josef Albers, Nicholas Fox Weber

Overview

The 50th anniversary edition of a classic text, featuring an expanded selection of color studies
 
“The landmark 1963 book by Josef Albers . . . isn’t just for aspiring artists. Its mesmerizing illustrations are a revelation for anyone interested in color theory and human perception.”—Pilar Viladas, New York Times
 
“A visionary work.”—Malcolm Jones, Newsweek
 
Josef Albers’s classic Interaction of Color is a masterwork in art education. Conceived as a handbook and teaching aid for artists, instructors, and students, this influential book presents Albers’s singular explanation of complex color theory principles.
 
Originally published by Yale University Press in 1963 as a limited silkscreen edition with 150 color plates, Interaction of Color first appeared in paperback in 1971, featuring ten color studies chosen by Albers, and has remained in print ever since. With over a quarter of a million copies sold in its various editions since 1963, Interaction of Color remains an essential resource on color, as pioneering today as when Albers created it.
 
Fifty years after Interaction’s initial publication, this anniversary edition presents a significantly expanded selection of close to sixty color studies alongside Albers’s original text, demonstrating such principles as color relativity, intensity, and temperature; vibrating and vanishing boundaries; and the illusion of transparency and reversed grounds. A celebration of the longevity and unique authority of Albers’s contribution, this landmark edition will find new audiences in studios and classrooms around the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300179354
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	06/28/2013
Edition description:	50th Anniversary Edition
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	26,549
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Josef Albers, one of the most influential artist-educators of the twentieth century, was a member of the Bauhaus group in Germany during the 1920s. In 1933 he came to the United States, where he taught at Black Mountain College for sixteen years. In 1950 he joined the faculty at Yale University as chairman of the department of design. Albers was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1968 and was professor emeritus of art at Yale until his death in 1976. Nicholas Fox Weber is executive director of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation.

Table of Contents

Foreword Nicholas Fox Weber ix

Introduction 1

I Color recollection-visual memory 3

II Color reading and contexture 4

III Why color paper-instead of pigment and paint 6

IV A color has many faces-the relativity of color 8

V Lighter and / or darker-light intensity, lightness 12

Gradation studies-new presentations

Color intensity-brightness

VI 1 color appears as 2-looking like the reversed grounds 18

VII 2 different colors look alike-subtraction of color 20

VIII Why color deception?-after-image, simultaneous contrast 22

IX Color mixture in paper-illusion of transparence 24

X Factual mixtures-additive and subtractive 27

XI Transparence and space-illusion 29

Color boundaries and plastic action

XII Optical mixture-after-image revised 33

XIII The Bezold Effect 33

XIV Color intervals and transformation 34

XV The middle mixture again-intersecting colors 37

XVI Color juxtaposition-harmony-quantity 39

XVII Film color and volume color-2 natural effects 45

XVIII Free studies-a challenge to imagination 47

Stripes-restricted juxtaposition

Fall leaf studies-an American discovery

XIX The Masters-color instrumentation 52

XX The Weber-Fechner Law-the measure in mixture 54

XXI From color temperature to humidity in color 59

XXII Vibrating boundaries-enforced contours 61

XXIII Equal light intensity-vanishing boundaries 62

XXIV Color theories-color systems 65

XXV On teaching color-some color terms 68

Explanation of color terms

Variants versus variety

XXVI In lieu of a bibliography-my first collaborators 74

Plates and commentary 75

Editorial Reviews

Interaction of Color, the landmark 1963 book by Josef Albers, . . . isn’t just for aspiring artists. Its mesmerizing illustrations are a revelation for anyone interested in color theory and human perception.”—Pilar Viladas, New York Times

“One of the most beautiful books in the world. . . . Interaction of Color is not solely for artists, though generations of them certainly owe Albers a debt. It is for anyone who wants to get under the hood and understand why and how we see the world the way we do. . . . A visionary work.”—Malcolm Jones, Newsweek

“For the historical insight and lucidity our color-drenched era could definitely use, the 50th-anniversary edition of Interaction of Color, by the Bauhaus-bred artist and teacher Josef Albers, is especially worth examining.”—Sebastian Smee, The Atlantic

“The best introduction to Albers’s work—Albers’s own Interaction of Color, which I highly recommend.”—New York Magazine

“The most comprehensive and intelligent . . . book we have yet on this subject. It is an indispensable volume for the artist, architect, or teacher who finds a greater challenge in discovery than in a ‘safe’ color system.”—Architectural Forum

“Interaction of Color, with its illuminating visual exercises and mind-bending optical illusions, remains an indispensable blueprint to the art of seeing. . . . An essential piece of visual literacy.”—Maria Popova, Brain Pickings

“One of the most important books on color ever written.”—Michael Hession, Gizmodo

“Will a paperback version preserve the original value of Albers’ text? . . . The answer is an enthusiastic yes, for here is a book which belongs in the studio and classroom that for years has been available only in the best university.”—Arts Review

“One of the most influential artist-teachers of the century, Albers is best known for his squares—a geometric form to which he has been ‘paying homage’ throughout the years. . . . Interaction of Color is a record of an experimental way of studying and teaching color. . . . What he says will be useful in any kind of painting.”—American Artist

“[An] influential classic [that] has inspired artist and designers everywhere.”—Cool Hunting

“This handbook for artists, teachers, and students, by one of modernism’s great artists and thinkers, has been expanded to include nearly 60 color studies.”—Dwell

Selected as a 2007 AAUP University Press Book for Public and Secondary School Libraries

“The text of Interaction of Color provides the careful reader with the content of Josef Albers’s famous color course. His teaching is based on learning by direct perception, not by theories or color systems. There are many books on color on the market, but no one combines eyesight with such profound insight as Josef Albers does in Interaction of Color.”—Hannes Beckmann

From the Publisher

“For the historical insight and lucidity our color-drenched era could definitely use, the 50th-anniversary edition of Interaction of Color, by the Bauhaus-bred artist and teacher Josef Albers, is especially worth examining.”—Sebastian Smee, Atlantic

Atlantic - Sebastian Smee

‘The book that influenced me the most is Interaction of Colour by Josef Albers. It helped me to learn about colour.’—Orla Kiely, Elle Decoration
 

Elle Decoration - Orla Kiely

“One of the most important books on color ever written.”--Michael Hession,Gizmodo

Gizmodo - Michael Hession

"The best introduction to Albers's work—Albers's own Interaction of Color, which I highly recommend."—New York Magazine

New York Magazine

“One of the most beautiful books in the world . . .Interaction of Coloris not solely for artists, though generations of them certainly owe Albers a debt. It is for anyone who wants to get under the hood and understand why and how we see the world the way we do. . . . A visionary work.”--Malcolm Jones,Newsweek

Newsweek - Malcolm Jones

“[An]influential classic [that] has inspired artist and designers everywhere.”--
CoolHunting

Cool Hunting

"Joseph Albers, an artist and greatest educator in the United States, is one of those who first tore down the old hierarchical concept of color."—Yusuke Nakahara, Color Planning Center No. 59

“Interaction of Color with its illuminatingvisual exercises and mind-bending optical illusions, remains an indispensable blueprint to the art of seeing. . . . An essential piece of visual literacy.”—Maria Popova,Brain Pickings

Brain Pickings - Maria Popova