<< Back to previous page

"An Eye for Color: The Story of Josef Albers" by Natasha Wing

Wing, Natasha.  AN EYE FOR COLOR.  THE STORY OF JOSEF ALBERS.  Ill. by Julia Breckenreid.  Henry Holt, 2009.

Wing’s book moves from when Albers was a young child through his recognition as a premier explorer of color theory, but it never gets bogged down in too many details.  In a text as minimalist as the artist’s paintings, some pages have five sentences, others give a single page to only two words. 

As a German child, Albers was intrigued with his father’s practical art and as a college student, he searched out unusual art materials.  Coming to America in 1933, he subsequently visited Mexico, which proved inspiration for the color paintings he did the rest of his life. 

On every spread, Breckenreid’s color shows in bold images the ideas Albers was exploring.  The illustrator’s bold abstractions lead to pages showing how Albers explored the effects of color on one another.  Because of the nature of Albers’ work, the illustrator can recreate it, without the need to actually reproduce any of the artist’s original work. 

The simple book text is augmented with an Author’s Note, “More About Josef Albers,” a glossary, and a bibliography.  A page of activities which is included would be helpful to a teacher in leading children to discover some of Albers’ ideas. 

Click Here for a Word Document of this review