Josef Albers (1888 - 1976) was a German-born American artist and educator whose work, both in Europe and in the United States, formed the basis of some of the most influential and far-reaching art education programs of the twentieth century. Albers was also a highly innovative teacher associated with the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany and later with Black Mountain College in North Carolina. His work represents a transition between traditional European art and the new American art.
From 1950 to 1958, Albers served as Chairman of the Department of Design at Yale University where he produced hundreds of ''Homages to the Square, the series for which he is most known today. This work inspired subsequent hard-edge abstract painters who drew on his use of patterns and intense colors. Albers continued to paint and write, staying in New Haven with his wife, textile artist, Anni Albers, until his death in 1976.