Josef Albers's “Tenayuca I” rediscovered
For decades its existence was known to us only through a black-and-white photograph from a small Swiss archive.
he nuances of Josef Albers's Tenayuca I in person are startling: the two shades of red in soft brush strokes, the hot pink border and thin stripe of white, the gentle grays animating the white shapes (which are the ground peeping through—Albers used a house paint before acrylic gesso became widely available). The painting is new to the Albers Foundation. For decades its existence was known to us only through a black-and-white photograph from a small Swiss archive. Every attempt to find the actual artwork failed. But it was a painting worth looking for: the Mesoamerican pyramid at Tenayuca was a subject of great interest to Albers. Tenayuca I was the first in a series of six works of the same title, along with numerous drawings, studies, and prints, and well over one hundred photographs taken of the site during journeys made to Mexico between 1935 and 1967. The painting was rediscovered early this year through a surprising correspondence with a private collector. Tenayuca I will be on view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, this November in an exhibition exploring the work of Albers and his many visits to Mexico.
