New books “Josef Albers in Mexico” and “Anni Albers: Notebook 1970–1980” are now available

Two new books on Josef and Anni Albers bring to light lesser-known aspects of each artist's work. Josef Albers in Mexico accompanies the exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The show reveals the link between the art and architecture of ancient Mesoamerica and Albers's abstract works on canvas and paper. During numerous visits to Mexico, Albers took black-and-white photographs of pyramids, shrines, sanctuaries and landscapes, which he later assembled into rarely seen photo collages. The resulting works demonstrate Albers's continued formal experimentation with geometry, this time accentuating a pre-Columbian aesthetic. Featuring 110 vivid color reproductions, an illustrated map, and two scholarly essays that illuminate this period in the influential artist's practice, the book is available through the Guggenheim.

Anni Albers: Notebook 1970-1980 is a beautiful facsimile showing the pencil drawings the artist made for her prints. Beginning in 1970, Anni Albers filled her graph-paper notebook regularly until 1980. This rare and previously unpublished document follows Albers's deliberations and progression as a draftsman, revealing the way she made complex patterns, exploring them piece by piece, line by line in a visually dramatic series of geometric arrangements. The book will be available in late November through David Zwirner Books.