Customer Reviews

Interaction of Color: New Complete Edition

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an unbelieveably gorgeous and lavish edition of Josef Albers's original book. Movable flaps within the color plates lift up to show the magic of Albers's legendary exercises: how the same color appearing on two different backgrounds can look so different, and vice versa. A real collectors' item for people who love fine art publications.

I make the following random points in respect of this title :

1. The shipping and general processing of my purchase by Amazon was very good, as always.

2. The publication is in two hardcover volumes (one with an azure blue, and the other with an olive green cover), with a brown cloth bound slipcase and a cardboard box for extra protection. One volume focuses on the theory and an explanation of the plates (and how to use them), and the other volume is the colour plates themselves.

3. The physical presentation of the whole package just oozes quality. The cloth used on the covers, the binding, the paper stock are all first class. The proportions of each volume are also well thought out, each being tall and slim, although the volume with colour plates is heavier due to the thicker paper used.

4. The graphic design is so clean and simple - the typeface and graphic layout of each page make the books a treat to look at and read. The new colour plates are produced using stochastic printing.

5. The new edition has been produced with the complete cooperation of the Josef and Anni Albers foundation, who also provided a subsidy to allow the work to proceed. The editor in charge of this new edition, Michelle Komie, worked closely with the Foundation over a number of years.

6. Further reading on the new edition can be found on line as follows :

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7. I've never seen the original edition, so I can't compare the original with this new edition. The original was published in 1963, as a limited print run, and cost $200 back then. The colour plates were silk screened. These copies are now very rare, and will set you back at least $4000. The new edition would have cost $1000+ if silk screen had been used again. Logically, this means less people would have bought it. As Michlelle Komie stated to me "The goal of this publication was to make the full set of plates available for the first time since 1963 as beautifully and reasonably as possible." It seems crazy to me that Michelle and the Foundation would allow the book to go to press if it could not do justice to the original.

Let's face it, this is one of THE essential 20th Century colour treatises, and the fact that a publication of this quality and educational value is now available at a price that could barely get you a meal for two at a decent restaurant, is really a cause for celebration.

Do yourselves a favour - buy the book - if you have an interest in colour theory, or even if you just admire beautiful design and things well made, you won't regret it.

This review is not about the value of the work-itself of Josef Albers. What I 'm going to say concerns the particular edition. When I first received the package, I was delighted by the good printing quality of the first book with the plates, but unfortunately the second text-book was a bad copy with 8 pages double printed.

I paid half the price of the book to send it back (I live in Greece) for replacement. Now, I have just received a new copy and I have found that while the text-book seems ok, the printing quality of the plates of the first book is not as good as in the one I have returned, in fact it is much inferior with apparent crosscoverings and mudy washes on the edges of colors. I feel frustrated and I don't even khow if I have a poor quality copy or a bad copy, because I don't have a prototype to compare.

In 1964, we gave our painting teacher John Opper a going away present of the original screen printed volumes of this first edition of Interaction of Color when he retired from NYU. He had studied with Josef Albers at Yale. It was an exquisite edition that I will remember for the rest of my life. The colors and plates were breathtaking. Opper was thrilled. The reason why I recently bought this new version was because of my remembrance of this event and thought that owning this book would aid me in my teaching various color courses at FIT's School of Continuing Education. After studying the new and expanded version of the paperback edition issued in 2006, I think it is not necessary to buy these two new hard cover volumes, unless you like to collect books. I imagine, if I never saw the original, I would be content. It is extremely reasonably priced at Amazon.com.

For any serious student of color, a treasure by a master. While an original would be terrific, they've sold for $2,500 to $7,000 at auction, so I'm thrilled Yale University Press re-released this handsome, cased set. I haven't seen any flaws, but have not looked at every page. I'll edit this review if any pop up.