Correspondence

The Correspondence with Individuals subseries includes letters between Josef Albers and family, friends, colleagues, and various individuals that Josef likely never met. Of note are correspondents Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Franz Grosse Perdekamp, Hannes Meyer, Herbert Bayer, Buckminster Fuller, Ruth Asawa, Ray Johnson, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Ted and Bobbie Dreier, Inge and Otl Aicher-Scholl, Robert Osborn, Maximilian Schell, and two humorous letters expressing dismay at Josef's success. Correspondence with Betty Seymour and Jane Slater Marquis reveal intimate relationships with Josef and include poems written by Josef.

This series includes letters between Josef Albers and various institutions and organizations. Included is correspondence regarding solo and group exhibitions and artwork gifts, sales and loans. Of note is correspondence with the American Council on Education, the Art Institute of Chicago, Bauhaus Archiv, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Galerie Denise René, the Museum of Modern Art, Eastman and Eastman (including third party correspondence), Sidney Janis Gallery, Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Wesfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Yale University, and correspondence between Ives-Sillman and Eastman and Eastman regarding the dissolution of Josef›s professional and personal relationship with Norman Ives and Si Sillman.

This series is primarily comprised of correspondence between Josef and Anni Albers during the time they spent apart as Josef traveled. Most of the correspondence is from Josef to Anni. The correspondence includes rich accounts of Josef’s travels and teaching, betraying their great love not only as man and wife but also as companions in art.

The Birthday Correspondence consists of letters and cards to Josef Albers on his various birthdays. This material reveals the reverence that so many of Josef’s friends and colleagues had for him and the importance of these occasions for Josef. Robert Osborn’s cards are particularly colorful and celebratory.

Most items in this series concern Josef Albers’s teaching pension.

The Permissions Correspondence series contains letters of request, reply and agreement regarding permission to reproduce Josef Albers’s work in various formats. Correspondence is with individuals and organizations, including publishing companies.