Anni AlbersAnni Albers: Notebook 1970–1980

Pier Vittorio Aureli’s selection for his storefront.

I think ‘composition’ is deeply problematic both in art and architecture, but it is so difficult to get rid of. Anni Albers’ drawings are in my opinion a very successful attempt at non-composition, inspired by her work as textile artist. Her patterns and motives are incredibly beautiful.

“A superb facsimile of the only known notebook of legendary artist Anni Albers, this publication offers insight into the methodology of a modern master.

Beginning in 1970, Anni Albers filled her graph-paper notebook regularly until 1980. This rare and previously unpublished document of her working process contains intricate drawings for her large body of graphic work, as well as studies for her late knot drawings. The notebook follows Albers’s deliberations and progression as a draftsman in their original form. It reveals the way she went about making complex patterns, exploring them piece by piece, line by line in a visually dramatic and mysteriously beautiful series of geometric arrangements.

An afterword by Brenda Danilowitz, Chief Curator of The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, contextualizes the notebook and explores the role studies played in the development of her work.”