The Albers Foundation has rich archives that include letters between the Alberses themselves; letters to and from many of the leading figures in twentieth-century modernism; and material pertinent to the lives and work of Anni and Josef Albers. Documents go back to the Bauhaus period, and the archive is maintained actively as new material comes in related to exhibitions and publications that continue to take place with increasing intensity. Thanks initially to a grant from the Getty Foundation in Los Angeles, these papers are in meticulous order and are preserved for their long-term physical conservation. They are also growing because of bequests coming our way from artists, writers, and other people who have worked with the Alberses, material by Josef's students, etc. Visits to the archives can be arranged by appointment.
Visits are by appointment only to scholars and curators for research purposes. We can accommodate limited scanning of materials and/or requests to visit in person.
Please follow this link to submit a request form:
Albers Foundation Archive Request
88 Beacon Road
Bethany, Connecticut 06524
+1 203 393 4089
Correspondence; handwritten and typed manuscripts, lectures, and notes; interviews; financial records; audio tapes and films; clippings; research files; printed materials; postcards; travel documents; photographs; and memorabilia document the life and work of Josef and Anni Albers. Reflected in these materials is their work as visual artists, teachers, writers and collectors.
171 boxes, 39 oversize boxes, 9 oversize folders, 1 unboxed photograph album and 62 film cans (165.5 linear feet)
English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Dutch and Japanese.
Charles Tauss (1927–2000) was Josef Albers’s student, and later studio assistant and conservator. Correspondence, condition reports, notes, photographs, newspaper and magazine articles, exhibition announcements, and memorabilia, document the painting methods, conservation and work of Josef Albers. Donated by Charles Tauss.
3 boxes
English
Correspondence between the Dreiers and the Alberses reflect the personal and professional relationship between these four individuals during the Black Mountain College period. Donated by the Dreier Family.
3 boxes
English
Lore Kadden Lindenfeld (1921–2010) studied under both Josef and Anni Albers at Black Mountain College between 1945 and 1948. Her course notes are among the few known documents that record Anni Albers’s weaving classes. Also in this collection are notes from Josef Albers’s design and color courses and Lindenfeld's graduation materials. Donated by Lore Kadden Lindenfeld.
1 box
English
Carl L. Howard is a filmmaker and editor who worked with Arnold Bittleman to create the film To Open Eyes: A Film on Josef Albers, produced in 1969 by Educational Communications, State University of New York at Albany. The Carl L. Howard Papers are a collection of materials used to create the film, including photographs, contact sheets, film scripts, transcriptions, and handwritten notes between Albers and Howard. Donated by Carl L. Howard.
1 box
English
The Foundation also houses and makes available to researchers the literary papers of its director, Nicholas Fox Weber. Nicholas Fox Weber is the author of fourteen books, including biographies of Balthus and Le Corbusier; a group biography of key Bauhaus figures Walter Gropius, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe, and Josef and Anni Albers; a group biography of the founders of the Museum of Modern Art; and a biography of art collectors and heirs to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune, Stephen and Sterling Clark.
7 boxes, 2 filing cabinet drawers
