Josef and Anni Albers on Sabbatical

Correspondence sent by the Alberses during a three-month cross-country drive in the fall of 1946

"Now work can start." Anni Albers's declaration upon their arrival in La Luz, NM in December 1946.

Detail from Anni Albers's weaving La Luz, ca. 1947

This talk, given October 7, 2022 at the ReViewing Black Mountain College 13 Conference organized by the Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center, followed Josef and Anni Albers during their sixteen-plus month sabbatical from Black Mountain College between the fall of 1946 and early 1948. The talk, which was presented as part of a two-person panel with Julie J. Thomson which centered on the Alberses' activities during this time, explored where the Alberses went, what they did there, their growth as artists during this time away from the Black Mountain College (including Josef's development of the Variant or Adobe series of paintings), and the beginnings of the fissures that would eventually contribute to their decision to resign from BMC less than 12 months after their return.

The talk, which lasted about forty minutes, was heavily illustrated with slides from the Alberses' correspondence, photographs and own work.