As mesmerizing as Anni Albers’ weavings and prints are, her art represents only a fraction of her achievement. In addition to being one of the most important textile artists of the 20th century, she was a designer, writer and teacher.
Albers was born Annelise Fleischmann in 1899 to a well-to-do Jewish family in Berlin. She studied at the School of Applied Art in Hamburg and then attended the Bauhaus, the utopian workshop founded in Weimar in 1919 by architect Walter Gropius.
The school envisioned a unity of art and design, with the goal of training designers and artisans who could create objects both functional and artistic for mass production. At the Bauhaus, where women’s choices for study were limited, the aspiring Albers ended up in the weaving workshop. Although she initially perceived the discipline as unserious, once she had a thread in hand, she was obsessed.
“I heard Paul Klee speak, and he said to take a line for a walk, and I thought, ‘I will take thread everywhere I can,’” she once told Nicholas Fox Weber, executive director of the Albers Foundation.
At the Bauhaus, Anni met and married fellow student Josef Albers, who would later become a celebrated color theorist and painter. His “Homage to the Square” paintings, which explored the relationships between colors, are now considered modernist masterpieces, and his treatment of color was crucial to the development of the Op art movement.
After graduating in 1930, Anni and Josef both became teachers at the Bauhaus, but when the Nazis came to power, the school was shut down. In 1933, fleeing the Nazis, the couple emigrated to the U.S., where they both became teachers at Black Mountain College, in North Carolina.
Black Mountain, which rejected educational norms and was known for its free-spirited atmosphere, produced many luminaries of modern American art — among them Robert Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly, both students of the Alberses’. In addition to teaching, Anni continued her own artistic practice, making what she called “pictorial weavings”: abstract wallhangings having the same formal qualities as a painting.
The Alberses were fascinated by Latin America even before they crossed the Atlantic, so from North Carolina, they made numerous road trips to Mexico and Peru to collect pre-Columbian art. The influence of the ceramics and textiles the couple discovered in their travels is clear in Anni’s work yet her approach to weaving was unorthodox.
Albers incorporated unusual materials such as cellophane and metallic thread. She intertwined linked threads in innovative ways and added knots as artistic elements, as in “Dotted” Weaving (1959). She created studies using corn kernels, grass, twisted paper, lines made with a typewriter and pin pricks.
In addition to her art pieces, Anni designed many functional textiles for mass production. In 1949, Gropius commissioned her to create fabrics for the Harvard dormitories he designed. Shortly afterward, she was commissioned to design fabrics for the furniture company Knoll. In the late ’50s, Anni began publishing books: On Designing, in 1959, and On Weaving, in 1965.
In her 60s, when it became difficult for her to operate a loom, Anni turned her energies to making prints. Beyond the increased recognition of weaving as an art form, another reason for the renewed interest in Anni’s work is that art history has now turned its lens on women artists who were previously overlooked.
Find Anni Albers rugs, wall decor and original prints on 1stDibs.
$4,501
Fox I
By Anni Albers
Located in Paris, FR
Offset, 1972 Handsigned by the artist in pencil and numbered 123/150 Catalog : Weber & Danilowitz 29 60.50 cm. x 50.50 cm. 23.82 in. x 19.88 in. (paper) 38.00 cm. x 34.00 cm. 14.96...
Offset
$3,316
Anni Albers (1899 - 1994) - Double Weave - Screenprint on Fabriano paper - 1985
By Anni Albers
Located in Varese, IT
Screenprint on Fabriano paper, edited in 1985. Limited edition of 125 copies, numbered as 46/125 in lower left corner. Hand-signed in pencil by artist in lower right corner. Plate s...
Paper, Screen
Anni Albers, ST - Original Screen Print from 1971, Geometric Abstraction
By Anni Albers
Located in Hamburg, DE
Anni Albers (1899-1994) ST, 1971 Medium: Screenprint on cardboard Dimensions: 83 × 62 cm (32 7/10 × 24 2/5 in) Edition: Hand-signed and numbered in pencil Condition: Very good
Screen
Untitled (Letter to Kathy) - Abstract Pen on Paper Drawing
By Anni Albers
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Untitled", a rare and intimate mixed media on paper piece by Anni Albers, was a personal gift to its owner, Katherine Weber, wife of Albers Foundation president Nicholas Fox Weber, ...
Paper, Felt Pen
Anni Albers, ST - Original Screen Print from 1971, Geometric Abstraction
By Anni Albers
Located in Hamburg, DE
Anni Albers (1899-1994) ST, 1971 Medium: Screenprint on cardboard Dimensions: 83 × 62 cm (32 7/10 × 24 2/5 in) Edition: Not signed, not numbered outside the edition of 150. Condition...
Screen
$840Sale Price|43% Off
H 24.2 in W 23.8 in D 1 in
Concrete Geometric Abstract Composition with Blue (~44% OFF LIST PRICE)
By Gottfried Honegger
Located in Kansas City, MO
Gottfried Honegger Concrete Geometric Abstract Composition with Blue 3D-construction, Screenprint on Hahnemuhle Velvet 2015 Size: 20.9 × 21.1 on 24.2 × 23.8 inches Edition: E.A. of 5...
Archival Paper, Screen
$550
H 16 in W 20 in
Confrontation - line drawing women figures with white dandelions
By Mila Akopova
Located in Fort Lee, NJ
Interior design paintings. The artwork was done with acrylic, watercolor and white felt pen on black watercolor paper 360g. The works are 11,5 by 16,5 inches in size, framed (black) ...
Paper, Acrylic, Watercolor, Felt Pen
$700
H 12.5 in W 16.6 in
Gerhard Richter -Abstract Picture one plate artist authorized print on GardaMatt
By Gerhard Richter
Located in New York, NY
Gerhard Richter Untitled Abstract Picture, 2002 Offset lithograph on GardaMatt Art 250 GSM paper (reproduction) Limited Edition edition of 3433 12 1/2 × 16 3.5 inches Unframed Printed on GardaMatt Art 250 GSM paper, this beautiful and colorful piece was part of a portfolio of loose plate reproductions for Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes works. Released during his exhibitions at the San Francisco Museum of Art (Abstract Pictures) and the Museum of Modern Art (Gerhard Richter, 40 Years of Painting). It depicts Richters Oil on Aluminum abstract picture) More about Gerhard Richter: Gerhard Richter was born in 1932 in Dresden, Germany. Throughout his career, Richter has negotiated the frontier between photography and painting, captivated by the way in which these two seemingly opposing practices speak to and challenge one another. From exuberant canvases rendered with a squeegee and acerbic color charts to paintings of photographic detail and close-ups of a single brushstroke, Richter moves effortlessly between the two mediums, reveling in the complexity of their relationship, while never asserting one above the other. Richter’s life traces the defining moments of twentieth-century history and his work reverberates with the trauma of National Socialism and the Holocaust. In the wake of the Second World War, Richter trained in a Socialist Realist style sanctioned by East Germany’s Communist government. When he defected to West Germany in 1961, a month before the Berlin Wall was erected, Richter left his entire artistic oeuvre up to that point behind. From 1961 to 1964—alongside Blinky Palermo and Sigmar Polke—Richter studied at the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he began to explore the material, conceptual, and historical implications of painting without ideological restraint. Richter’s earliest paintings in Düsseldorf, stimulated by a fascination with current affairs and popular culture, responded to images from magazines and newspaper cuttings. Through the 1960s, Richter continued to address found and media images of subjects such as military jets, portraits, and aerial photographs. Notably, he reimagined family pictures he had smuggled from East Germany that included his smiling uncle Rudi, dressed in a Nazi uniform...
Lithograph, Offset
$1,350
H 39 in W 27 in D 0.25 in
"Night Views" Silkscreen Print by The Skyscape Artist, 25/100
Located in Soquel, CA
"Night Views" Silkscreen Print by The Skyscape Artist, 25/100. By Tetsuro Sawada ( Japanese, 1933-1998) This raven black geometric abstraction focuses on hard-edged horizontal lines, color, and light, giving the impression of dusk through the "bokashi," or shading, technique, which is most difficult in the silkscreen medium, a good example of Sawada's theme of the infinite beyond, the silent emptiness of the universe. Signature in the bottom right corner reads, "T. Sawada '87," titled in the bottom center, "Night Views," and numbered, "25/100," in the bottom left corner. Presented in a new white mat. Paper size: 34"H x 22"W, Mat size: 39"H x 27"W Born in Hokkaido, Tetsuro Sawada (1933-1998, Japanese) graduated from Musashimo Art University where he majored in Western painting. In 1960, he began painting abstract oils...
Paper, Screen
$1,950
H 32.88 in W 32.88 in D 1.5 in
Lines & Color, Straight, Not-Straight and Broken Lines, Using All Combinations..
By Sol LeWitt
Located in Milford, NH
A colorful geometric silkscreen print by American artist Sol LeWitt (1928-2007). LeWitt was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and attended Syracuse University where he studied tradition...
Paper, Screen
$3,800
H 7.75 in W 9.75 in D 1.5 in
Sol Lewitt Lines in Four Different Directions original signed inscribed drawing
By Sol LeWitt
Located in New York, NY
Sol LeWitt Lines in Four Different Directions, 1997 Original drawing in black felt tip pen on postmarked (franked) postcard Signed, dated and inscribed "For Andrew Thanks for the Dra...
Postcard, Felt Pen
Untitled, from the Kinderstern Portfolio
By Sol LeWitt
Located in Milford, NH
A fine black and white silkscreen geometric print from the Kinderstern Portfolio by American artist Sol LeWitt (1928-2007). LeWitt was was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and attended...
Paper, Screen
$2,000
H 28 in W 28 in D 0.5 in
Gemini, 1960s Op Art geometric silkscreen, mixed media paper, Signed AP, Framed
By Anne Youkeles
Located in New York, NY
Anne Youkeles Gemini, ca. 1969 Three-dimensional mixed media silkscreen on folded sheets of thin card Hand-signed by artist in pencil, titled and annotated Artist's Proof I from the ...
Paper, Mixed Media, Laid Paper, Screen
$1,800
H 31.25 in W 23.875 in D 1 in
Concrete Geometric Abstract in 3D (Blue and Black)
By Gottfried Honegger
Located in Kansas City, MO
Gottfried Honegger Concrete Geometric Abstract in 3D (Blue and Black) 3D-construction, Screenprint on Hahnemuhle Velvet 2015 Size: 21.5 x 18.75 inches on 31.25 x 23.875 inches (54.61...
Archival Paper, Screen
$592
H 19.75 in W 12.75 in
Mid Century Op Art Concentric Circle Abstract Pattern Study Green Blue Ink
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Mid Century Op Art Concentric Circle Abstract Pattern Study Green Blue Ink Medium: Ink and pen on paper, mounted on larger backing sheet, unframed Size (Full sheet): 19.75 x ...
Ink, Felt Pen
$660Sale Price|20% Off
H 16.25 in W 20.25 in D 0.75 in
"The Sun Shines All Over", Vintage Geometric Abstract Landscape Screen Print
By Xiu-ping Liao
Located in Soquel, CA
"The Sun Shines All Over", a bold minimalist vintage abstract landscape print by the renowned printmaker Shiou-ping Liao (Taiwanese, b.1936). A perfectly circular, high voltage rainb...
Paper, Printer's Ink, Screen
$4,500
H 39.5 in W 23.5 in
Frank Stella - NY State Columbus Centenary, Lithograph, Hand Signed, Ed. of 100
By Frank Stella
Located in New York, NY
Frank Stella The New York State Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Commission, 1991 Offset Lithograph Printed in Colors Signed and dated by the artist in ink on the lower right fron...
Ink, Lithograph, Offset
GR 1
By Anni Albers
Located in New York, NY
Screenprint in colors on Arches, 1970. Signed by the artist in pencil in lower right margin. Titled and numbered 76/100 in pencil lower left margin. Image is 16 x 20 inches; the f...
Screen
GR I, Eclat Pattern, Silkscreen by Anni Albers 1970
By Anni Albers
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Anni Albers, German/American (1899 - 1994) Title: GR I Year: 1970 Medium: Screenprint on Arches Paper, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 100 Image Size: 20 x 16 inches S...
Screen
Sold
H 32.68 in W 24.41 in
Anni Albers, ST - Screenprint from 1971, Abstract Geometric Art
By Anni Albers
Located in Hamburg, DE
Anni Albers (German-American, 1899–1994) ST, 1971 Medium: Screenprint on cardboard Dimensions: 32 7/10 × 24 2/5 in (83 × 62 cm) Edition: Unsigned and unnumbered print outside the edi...
Screen
Sold
H 30.71 in W 30.71 in
Anni Albers ( 1899 – 1994 ) – Intaglio with Triangles – hand-signed Screenprint
By Anni Albers
Located in Varese, IT
Screenprint on Fabriano paper , edited in 1985 Limited edition of 125 copies signed in pencil by artist and numbered as: 46/125 paper size: 68 x 68 cm ( 26 5/8 x 26 5/8 inch ) very g...
Paper, Lithograph, Screen
GR I, Eclat Pattern, Silkscreen by Anni Albers 1970
By Anni Albers
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Anni Albers, German/American (1899 - 1994) Title: GR I Year: 1970 Medium: Silkscreen on Arches Paper, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 46/100 Image Size: 20 x 16 inches...
Screen
Line Involvement II
By Anni Albers
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
'Line Involvement II', lithograph, edition 20, 1964. Signed, annotated 'Bon à tirer II' in pencil by the artist. A superb, atmospheric impression with rich blacks, on heavy cream, wo...
Lithograph
GR I, Eclat Pattern, Framed Silkscreen by Anni Albers
By Anni Albers
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Anni Albers, German/American (1899 - 1994) Title: GR I Year: 1970 Medium: Silkscreen on Arches Paper, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 100 Image Size: 20 x 16 inches Si...
Screen
GR I, Eclat Pattern, Framed Silkscreen by Anni Albers
By Anni Albers
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Anni Albers, German/American (1899 - 1994) Title: GR I Year: 1970 Medium: Silkscreen on Arches Paper, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 100 Image Size: 20 x 16 inches Si...
Screen
GR I, Eclat Pattern, Framed Silkscreen by Anni Albers
By Anni Albers
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Anni Albers, German/American (1899 - 1994) Title: GR I Year: 1970 Medium: Silkscreen, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 100 Image Size: 20 x 16 inches Size: 29 x 24 in. ...
Screen
Sold
H 27 in W 19.5 in D 0.1 in
Triangulated Intaglios, 1972 from Connections 1925-1983
By Anni Albers
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Anni Albers, German/American (1899 - 1994) Title: Triangulated Intaglios, 1972 from Connections 1925-1983 Year: 1984 Medium: Silkscreen, Signed and numbered in pencil Edition...
Screen
Untitled, Abstract Op Art Print
By Anni Albers
Located in Surfside, FL
Vintage Print, not signed or numbered on front, in original period metal frame, by artist Anni Albers. Berlin, Germany, b. June 12, 1899, d. May 9, 1994 Anni Albers was a German-American artist who worked primarily in textiles and, late in life, as a printmaker. She is considered the preeminent textile artist of the 20th century. Albers was born Annelise Else Frieda Fleischmann on June 12, 1899 in Berlin, Germany. Of Jewish descent, her mother was from an aristocratic family in the publishing industry and her father was a furnituremaker. Her interest in art and the visual world was seeded in her childhood and she began painting early on. While studying under an Impressionist from 1916 to 1919, she received harsh criticism from the artist Oskar Kokoschka who viewed her work and bluntly asked, why do you paint? Shortly thereafter, she left the comfort of her affluent lifestyle to attend art school, an environment that contrasted sharply with that of her upper class upbringing. In 1920, she attended the Kunstgewerbeschule in Hamburg for only two months but eventually arrived at the Bauhaus at Weimar in April of 1922. In her first year, she studied under Georg Muche and Johannes Itten. However, at the time, women were barred from pursuing certain disciplines at the school, particularly architecture. When she was not admitted to a glass workshop with her future husband Josef Albers, she reluctantly switched tracks to weaving. Under the instruction of Gunta Stölzl, Albers came to love the challenges unique to weaving's tactile construction. Anni and Josef...
Screen
Untitled, Abstract Op Art Print
By Anni Albers
Located in Surfside, FL
Vintage Print, not signed or numbered on front, in original period metal frame, by artist Anni Albers. Berlin, Germany, b. June 12, 1899, d. May 9, 1994 Anni Albers was a German-American artist who worked primarily in textiles and, late in life, as a printmaker. She is considered the preeminent textile artist of the 20th century. Albers was born Annelise Else Frieda Fleischmann on June 12, 1899 in Berlin, Germany. Of Jewish descent, her mother was from an aristocratic family in the publishing industry and her father was a furnituremaker. Her interest in art and the visual world was seeded in her childhood and she began painting early on. While studying under an Impressionist from 1916 to 1919, she received harsh criticism from the artist Oskar Kokoschka who viewed her work and bluntly asked, why do you paint? Shortly thereafter, she left the comfort of her affluent lifestyle to attend art school, an environment that contrasted sharply with that of her upper class upbringing. In 1920, she attended the Kunstgewerbeschule in Hamburg for only two months but eventually arrived at the Bauhaus at Weimar in April of 1922. In her first year, she studied under Georg Muche and Johannes Itten. However, at the time, women were barred from pursuing certain disciplines at the school, particularly architecture. When she was not admitted to a glass workshop with her future husband Josef Albers, she reluctantly switched tracks to weaving. Under the instruction of Gunta Stölzl, Albers came to love the challenges unique to weaving's tactile construction. Anni and Josef...
Screen