Homage to the Square, 1965

Upon first glance, this painting by Josef Albers comes off as anything but art. In High School, I took a class called World Culture/World Literature and in this class, we had a text book entitled, Art of the Western World. During this course, we often used this text to scrutinize and study the art work of each time period as we studied the history of Europe. I was truly fascinated by the paintings and other artwork until contemporary works, when I became disappointed upon first glances. The minimalist, dada, and other contemporary artworks looked nothing like art to me. It was only after studying the meaning behind each movement that the works began to look like things I would be proud to frame on my wall. If I were to look at this painting before I took that class, all I would have seen would have been a big, ugly brown square and I would not help but be annoyed by the fact that the squares are not drawn in precise center of each other.

The simplicity of the painting can be a huge turn off to those seeking grandeur in art. But, is simplicity not a form of beauty? As it turns out, the work is actually an example of the Geometric Abstraction movement of art history, of which Josef Albers was a large influence. Albers painted a series of works under the name, Homage to the Square. In actuality, the painting is not merely a random collection of stalked squares but rather Albers’ ode to color. He was focused on exploring the different effects of color. Thus, each of the paintings in this collection looked like a stalk of squares, but the color pattern differed from one work to the next. The line graphics caused by the squares further demonstrated the dramatic geometric effect he intended to convey. The canvases displayed precision, succinct forms, and creative use of space, color and line. Are not these all aspects of art? Once the painting is looked at carefully, one can find all the elements of art embedded in it. His work was not only part of a large movement but also a platform of knowledge with regards to several important facets of art. His work not only taught his contemporaries but inspired later artists due to the advanced abstract qualities that he presented.

While the painting looks so simple, it is actually mind boggling once it is scrutinized. The superimposed squares are not merely stacked but rather painted in a manner that draws the eye in and out of the work repeatedly, almost to a hypnotizing effect. The colors are meticulously calculated such that each square seems to be altering in size to the observer’s eye. The hues of other squares are fascinating once you stare at the work for a period of time and it is amazing how his keen calculation of color and line leads the observer to see the spatial relationships to other squares as in constant alteration.