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Correspondence with and printed materials concerning artist, color theorist, designer, and teacher Josef Albers and his wife Anni Albers, herself a textile artist and jeweler. The Albers were refugee scholars from Germany who taught at Black Mountain College for sixteen years, and are perhaps its most referenced faculty in a sea of famous names. He had both studied and taught at the Bauhaus; Anni had also been a student teacher. Their presence in the rural mountains of North Carolina set many on a new path.

Ruth Asawa took Josef Albers' classes at Black Mountain repeatedly, beginning with the arts-intensive Summer session in 1946. He was initially put off by her messiness (he would not visit her studio until she cleaned it), but their rapport became quite strong, and we can owe much of Ruth's approach to art-making to him in particular.

After Black Mountain, Josef Albers remained eager to assist his former student, and there are referrals from him in her applications for scholarships, fellowships, and further academic study. It is in her 1950 San Francisco State recommendation that Albers famously stated "I consider her as a most gifted art student and one of the most talented I have ever had." She in turn frequently credited Albers in interviews, lectured on him at the San Francisco Museum of Art, and the Laniers traveled to Europe for the opening of the Albers museum in Bottrup. They also traded art many times over the years.

Files include letters and notes to and from the Albers, holiday and other cards, prints (some inscribed), photographs, and published material such as catalogs, books, magazines, and articles. Some of the correspondence has been copied from the Albers Foundation, which overlaps in part with original drafts present here. See also Black Mountain files, Ruth's BMC class notes, and the Fellowships and Grants series.

Names:

Albers, Anni
Albers, Josef

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