Josef Albers, Bottrop 1888 - 1976 New Haven, Connecticut

Josef Albers was born in Bottrop, Germany and originally studied to become a teacher before changing to art, entering the Bauhaus from 1920 to 1933. After emigrating to the United States in 1933, Albers taught at Black Mountain College, North Carolina, and Yale University, New Haven, where he taught the likes of Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly and Eva Hesse. Both a theoretician and a teacher, Albers was an important influence on generations of young artists. His experimentation with colour interaction and geometric shapes transformed the modern art scene and inspired movements such as Geometric Abstraction, Colour Field painting and Op Art.