Jeffrey Saletnik

"In this book, Jeffrey Saletnik explores influential artist and pedagogue Josef Albers's teaching practices. The pedagogy Albers developed at the Bauhaus, Black Mountain College, and Yale consisted in a dynamic approach to teaching that transcended modernist agendas: it involved a set of ideas and practices that cultivated a material way of thinking among his students, which included notable future artists such as Eva Hesse and Richard Serra. By using exercises including paper folding, cutting, and collage, Albers tried to generate a form of "productive disorientation" in his students, teaching them problem-solving strategies to explore new conceptions of composition and color. Saletnik begins by examining Albers's pedagogy in relation to modern aesthetic, scientific, and educational thought. He then examines his design, drawing, and color instruction, focusing on his relationship with Hesse and Serra, showing how their approach to material and scale were shaped by Albers's teaching. Featuring many novel images--including nineteenth-century children's teaching toys as well as rarely seen works by Albers, Serra, and Hesse--this book challenges art historians to consider how artists are introduced to problems of form and how pedagogy shapes their work"--

Josef Albers, Late Modernism, and Pedagogic Form

Robin Schuldenfrei

Reconsidering the status and meaning of Bauhaus objects in relation to the multiple re-tellings of the school’s history, this volume positions art objects of the Bauhaus within the theoretical, artistic, historical, and cultural concerns in which they were produced and received. Contributions from leading scholars writing in the field today – including Frederic J. Schwartz, Magdalena Droste, and Alina Payne – offer an entirely new treatment of the Bauhaus. Issues such as art and design pedagogy, the practice of photography, copyright law, and critical theory are discussed. Through a strong thematic structure, new archival research and innovative methodologies, the questions and subsequent conclusions presented here re-examine the history of the Bauhaus and its continuing legacy. Essential reading for anyone studying the Bauhaus, modern art and design.

Jeffrey Saletnik

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