Anni and Josef Albers: Mexican Travels, Touristic Experiences, and Artistic Responses

Anni and Josef Albers made fourteen trips to Mexico between 1935 and 1967. These visits inspired in a prodigious amount of work, including photo collages, published essays, paintings, drawings, prints, and weavings. Investigating these artistic responses to their experiences in Mexico reveals how Josef and Anni negotiated the cross-cultural inspiration they gained from their travels to create work which they felt matched their Bauhaus-influenced ideals. Examining the subjects that captivated the Alberses, and how they incorporated their experiences into their artistic production, also discloses how they wanted to be understood as artists. As husband and wife, and travel companions, their respective works of art show an interplay of shared opinions and experiences, but also demonstrate what resonated with each artist individually and how each one integrated these influences into their own works of modern, abstract art.