Carry van Biema’s Nine-Part Color Triangle and the Question of the Missing Attribution by Josef Albers
My research for this presentation and supporting paper was undertaken after first learning about the life and work of Carry van Biema and observing the nine color triangles she designed and featured prominently in her 1930 color and form theory treatise, Farben und Formen als lebendige Kräfte [Colors and Forms as Living Forces]. Van Biema’s color triangle designs are uncannily similar to the color triangle designs published by Josef Albers in 1963, in his book, Interaction of Color (Yale University Press), as well as within each printing and edition thereafter. Over the course of my research, I found evidence that Josef Albers knowingly omitted attributions of Carry van Biema as the author of the color triangles he published. Historical framing of the relevant value of van Biema’s color triangle designs as well as descriptions of a selection of her color theories will be addressed in the presentation, as well as brief assessments of the impact of Interaction of Color on contemporary art and design education. A synopsis of portions of van Biema’s biography will be shared, including information related to her murder in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp during the Holocaust, or Shoah, in 1942. The presentation and supporting paper concludes with a call for the establishment to recognize Carry van Biema for her important contributions to the field of color studies.