Invitation to Art; Josef Albers

WGBH Educational Foundation · 1962

Joseph Albers, the distinguished modern painter, is the guest on this program. Mr. Albers begins with a few axioms that have guided the work; the origin of art is the discrepancy between physical fact and psychic effect; the content of art is the visual formulation of our reaction to life; the measure of art is the ratio of effort to effect; the aim of art is the relation of evocation and vision. He then explains how these are applied to specific paintings. "I aim at poetry," he says and adds that his work is governed by the strict discipline and is influenced by his past experiences. He is an articulate and intelligent man; his comments, prompted by skillful questions from Dr. O'Doherty, are exciting and stimulating. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche) This series explores man and the world around him through the eyes of artists, past and present, and aims to develop an understanding of art as a direct expression of universal emotions. As the host, Dr. Brian O'Doherty, young Irish poet, painter, and art critic, brings a fresh, witty and warmly human point of view to the visual arts. In the first season (episodes 1 - 15), O'Doherty follows, through these arts, the cycle of man from childhood to old age and explores the society in which man lives in all its aspects - tragic, comic, and mundane. Dr. O'Doherty uses works of art now on display in the galleries of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, to illustrate the episodes. Patricia Barnard of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts supervises production. Her assistant is Thalia Kennedy of the Museum staff. In the second season (episodes 16 - 30), each episode either examines in detail the work and thought of one of the great artists of the past, or consists of skillful and sympathetic interviews by Dr. O'Doherty of distinguished living artists who have had a powerful influence upon the art of today. In the third season (episode 31 - 34), Dr. O'Doherty interviews a distinguished American artist who have had a powerful influence upon the art of today. In the fourth season (episodes 35 - 41), a pattern of ideas evolves, revealing the various roles of the artist. This series was originally record in black and white on kinescope. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)