American-German, 1888-1976. Josef Albers was academically trained to be an art teacher and practiced the profession in various art schools of Germany and the United States, including at the Bauhaus. He emigrated to America following the forced closure of the prestigious art school in 1933. He is best known for his influential “Homage to the Square” series, which employed an interplay of shape and color to create an optical effect and manipulate the viewer’s visual perception. His paintings displayed rigid geometric forms and abrupt transitions between color areas. His works of Abstract art and Constructivism accredited him as one of the originators of Minimalist, Conceptual and Op Art.