Color Function Painting: The Art of Josef Albers, Julian Stanczak and Richard Anuszkiewicz

This publication addresses the nature and function of color in painting. Since perception is subjective, two prominent scholars have written essays to describe how the mind perceives what the eye sees. The artists whose works are contemplated in this volume - Josef Albers and two of his students - Julian Stanczak and Richard Anuszkiewicz, use geometric abstraction to commence their inquiries into the function of color. These artists are frequently labeled as "Optical" or "Op" artists because the Op Art movement was named for Stanczak’s first exhibition in New York in 1964, and all three artists were included in the 1965 Museum of Modern Art exhibition, "The Responsive Eye." Although the Op Art label is historically accurate, all three of these artists are foremost colorists. As a result, they are different than most Op Artists, since most Op Artists focus more on pattern than color. This publication was issued in connection with an exhibition at Wake Forest University in 1996. It contains essays by Sanford Wurmfeld, a color painter and professor at Hunter College in New York, and Floyd Ratliff, Professor Emeritus of Rockefeller University. Ratliff’s essay is perhaps the best, most understandable essay ever written to explain the psychological and physiological processes involved in color vision.