Anni Albers

Anni Albers, born Annelise Fleischmann, decided in 1922 to take wall painting classes at the Bauhaus, the German design school in Weimar. However, the only workshop available was in weaving, so she reluctantly signed up for the class. Albers thrived as a weaver, creating works that were abstract in style and similar to contemporary avant garde painting: her works consisted of geometric shapes linked to one another by threads. After completing her studies at the Bauhaus, Anni Albers began teaching textile and weaving courses there. She met Josef Albers at the school and they were married in 1925.
In 1933 after the Nazis closed the Bauhaus, she and her husband emigrated to the United States and taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. Anni Albers became an assistant professor of art, teaching courses at the college from 1933 until 1946. In 1949 she became the first weaver to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Albers was the author of two books during the 1950s, "On Weaving" and "On Designing." When she was in her 70s, Albers took up printmaking. The last surviving teacher of the Bauhaus, Anni Albers died at her home in Orange, Connecticut, on May 9, 1994.

Source: Museum staff