We are in Brussel (Brussels, pop 1.25m in 2024) to see an art show, a retrospective of Josef and Anni Albers. Since we are both students from RISD's Foundation program, we know about their work with color and textiles, and their incredible teaching legacy, so this is a deep personal interest.
The show, 'Josef en Anni Albers', is at the Boghossianstichting (Boghossian Foundation) which is south of the center of town. So, we take an Uber past block after enormous block of anonymous government buildings (NATO, EU, national, local, etc) to a large wooded area of the city called the Ter Kamerenbos.
Suddenly we are in parkland, and the size and quality of the houses shift us into the upper echelon. The flags lining this grand avenue tell us this is 'embassy row', and these are the trophy homes where officials hold great sway, in one of the most important international cites in the world. The Foundation lives among these.
The Uber drops us at a large Art Deco block with aero corners and sharp gold trim. This is the Villa Empain (1930-34), very reminiscent of the Casa de Serralves (1925-43) in Porto. The entry grille is a cast iron shower of graphic diamonds, and the main hall is washed with sun and veined stone. Commercial textiles designed by Anni Albers hang from the skylight, creating waves of color and evoking Josef's work.
Josef Albers and Anni Albers are famous for their connections to the Bauhaus. Josef's oldest works are in glass and plastic, and he also designed furniture. Anni's works range from printmaking to weaving. The Interaction of Color (1963, also in digital format) is Josef's pioneering treatise on color theory (and our most direct link to their work). Their work is now the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation's legacy.
We start with Josef's simple geometric studies, where lines, forms, and colors create contradictory dimensional effects. Meanwhile, Anni's early pieces explore textures and colors with very different materials (yarns, sticks, corn), but with a shared curiosity and inventiveness.
Anni's interest in Mesoamerican art generates a shift in the geometries of their work – interesting the way hues shift, and forms emerge in both the painted pieces (Josef) and the woven pieces (Anni). Their quotes on the walls help us come to terms with the work, and remind us of their roles as inspirational teachers:
I think art parallels life. Color, in my opinion, behaves like a man [...] in two distinct ways: first in self-realization and then in the realization of the relationship with others. – Josef AlbersOur world goes to pieces; we have to rebuild our world. [...] We learn courage from art work. We have to go where no one was before us. We are alone and we are responsible for our actions. Our solitariness takes on religious character: this is a matter of my conscience and me. – Anni Albers
In the larger rooms overlooking the pool, we arrive to see several of Josef's 'Homage to the Square'. Our comprehension of the 'Squares' (so we were taught) is that they require prolonged viewing, so our eyes can tune the colors, and the interactions can alter the dimensional and planar qualities.
Something similar can be said of Anni's textile samples, where light and dark fibers, reflective and dull lines, and the lacy quality of the loose weave creates the interplay.
In a narrow corridor, there are Josef's album covers. This opens to another larger room with more 'Squares', some 'sunny' examples. The other galleries add examples of Anni's investigation of systems and patterns in various media, including fascinating sketches of textile designs in her notebooks.
Two white-on-black pieces by Anni titled 'Orchestra' and Orchestra II' counterpoint Josef's album covers by emphasizing first the horizontal, then vertical orthogonal, thus changing the spatial quality.
This exploration is further reflected in their self-designed holiday cards.
Learn to see and to feel life; that is, cultivate imagination, because there are still marvels in the world, because life is a mystery and always will be. But be aware of it. – Josef Albers
The exhibition concludes on the ground level with the work of artist influences by the Albers. One set of pieces by Leïla Pile involves measuring, dyeing and weaving, rolling, and cross-translating paintings and textiles.
But our attention is soon taken by the architecture. The Vila Empain is filled with delightful Deco details and furnishing, and everything wonderfully restored.
Downstairs, there is another excellent show called 'Beyond the Lines: Drawing in Space', which shows various media, types, and systems for drawing. The drawings are from the Foundation's Artist in Residence program.
The artists in this show connect to the Albers through their experimentation with variation, repetition, variegation – even have to check that the blue panel in the upper stair landing is by Anni Albers and not Ulla Hase (it is, second image).
Now we take advantage of the opportunity to wander in a new part of Brussel. We walk east through the woods of the Ter Kamerenbos and along the wide avenue of Winston Churchilllaan (Ukkel), and then to the city district of Sint-Gillis.
We pass the old Gemeentehuis (municipal building, Albert Dumont, 1900-04), and find lunch nearby. Unlike the area around the hotel and Grote Markt (Grand Place), this feels like a neighborhood – from the scale, the greenery, to the amenities.
Luckily, it is also well-served by the tram system.
Like yesterday, we finish the day in the Grote Markt, where the technicians are testing the colored lights. As the sun sets, the cast of the turquoise sky intensifies and melds with the rosy glow of the buildings and the amber shine from the streetlights. In a real way, this is color theory.
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