Variant/Adobe 

This work, Variant/Adobe, of approximately 29 by 46 centimeters was made by Josef Albers. The picture plane presents us with a series of rectangles within rectangles, rendered in ochre, blues and pink. The texture of the gouache gives a matte surface with visible brushstrokes. Albers' art engages deeply with color theory. The rectangles create an optical experience—the colors interact with each other. The pink shape appears to shimmer as it pushes against the blues. He destabilizes our understanding of color, revealing its dependence on context and relationship. What we see depends on the perceptual framework through which we see it. The work invites us to question our assumptions about color, meaning, and visual experience, revealing that art is not just about representation but about the very conditions of our perception.