Untitled Abstraction (Mantic) 1940

Josef Albers made this ‘Untitled Abstraction’ with oil on paper, and like much of his work, it's an exploration of color relationships. It’s fascinating how he lays down these colors, so deliberately, like he's thinking aloud with paint. The texture here is key, isn't it? The oil paint, not too thick, not too thin, but just right, sits on the paper with a quiet confidence, especially when you look closely at the bottom edge. This layering gives the piece a kind of depth, like looking into a shallow pool and seeing all the different levels. The red shape seems to hover in front of the dark green rectangle in the center, the layering of shapes creating a sense of recession and depth on a flat surface. Albers reminds me a bit of Agnes Martin, in the way he reduces his forms to pure sensation. It feels like we're invited to just be with the colors.