Homage to the Square: Guarded 1952

Josef Albers made this 'Homage to the Square' with oil on masonite, and look at that careful handling! I'm imagining Albers in his studio, meticulously layering those squares of color, one inside the other. You know, it's easy to think of squares as simple, but here they become a vehicle for endless exploration. He must have been fascinated with how colors shift and change depending on what they're next to. That outer band of pinkish-purple feels so different next to the dark brown square it frames. It’s like he’s saying, "Hey, perception is relative!" And the charcoal grey square at the very center feels almost like a secret, guarded by the surrounding colors. Albers’ whole project feels like a deep dive into how we see and how colors interact. What a generous thing to spend a lifetime thinking about!