Celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus, the influential modern art and design school in Germany, the NCMA’s special focus exhibition Bauhaus to Black Mountain introduces two of its members—abstract artist, theorist, and educator Josef Albers (1888–1976) and weaver, textile designer, and printmaker Anni Albers (1899–1994)—and their role in bringing Bauhaus principles to America.
In 1933, soon after the Bauhaus closed under Nazi pressure, the couple arrived in the U.S. as refugees and émigré artist-teachers. Josef Albers had been invited to North Carolina to head the art program at Black Mountain College, a progressive school that aimed to make visual arts the center of its curriculum. At the college Josef revived his Bauhaus preliminary course, which focused on the study of materials and color theory. Anni established the Weaving Workshop and taught textile design. Both encouraged other former members of the Bauhaus to lecture or teach at Black Mountain. 
The exhibition presents a selection of nine works on paper by the two artists: one woodcut and four silkscreens by Josef Albers—all drawn from the NCMA’s collection and shown here for the first time—and four silkscreens by Anni Albers borrowed from the Johnson Collection in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Guest curated by Julie Levin Caro, Bauhaus to Black Mountain: Josef and Anni Albers is open through January 12, 2020. Admission to this exhibition, located in West Building, is free.