American (born in Germany), 1888-1976

Homage to the Square: Soft Edge-Hard Edge

The artist, teacher, and writer Josef Albers is internationally recognized for his career-long investigation of the interdependence of color and visual perception. His iconic series Homage to the Square (1950–76) explores the relativity of color—how a color changes in intensity and tone through its interaction with adjacent colors. He pursued this concept in more than a thousand paintings, drawings, textiles, murals, and prints, including the Soft Edge—Hard Edge series.

The works in this series follow a simple pattern: three or four nested squares of varying color combinations. The repetition allowed Albers to use an experimental approach, changing one color at a time to see how it impacted the appearance of the surrounding colors. Certain color combinations create optical illusions that make it seem as if the squares are coming toward or receding from the viewer.

Artwork series