Josef Albers was born in Bottrop, Westphalia, Germany to a family of artisans. His most formative years were spent in Weimar at the Bauhaus, a collective of artists, craftsmen and architects devoted to the merging of craft techniques and fine art. Albers later taught there until its dissolution under Nazi pressure in 1933. He immigrated to the United States and continued in the route of academia, eventually becoming chair of the design department at Yale University from 1950 to 1958. Accomplished designer, photographer, typographer, printmaker and poet, Albers is most celebrated as an important abstract painter and theoretician. Indicative of his canonical status is his record as the first living artist to have a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1971. Albers was interested in the depths of perception and color in art. Though his life work adhered to simple methods, his dedication to creation would yield unprecedented and sophisticated forms.