1970 Josef Albers Glass Sculpture
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GUEST:
The sculpture was an award for my father from the Carborundum Company. They flew my father and mother to New York and put them up at the Waldorf Astoria and had Josef Albers at the large banquet when they presented this to my father. This is my father, Josef Albers, and this was the vice president of the Carborundum Company. I believe it was around 1976. When they brought it home, my mother did not allow it in her Early American house, so my dad...
APPRAISER:
That's hysterical.
GUEST:
My dad housed it down at his business and warehouse area, and when he gave up his business and sold it, I said, "Well, I'll take it, Dad." So that's how I acquired it.
APPRAISER:
What was the company?
GUEST:
The Carborundum Company specialized in abrasives and diamond wheels and polishing compounds and so forth. I think they dealt a lot with the Steuben Factory. This fit right in with my dad's business because these were the types of products that he sold.
APPRAISER:
Albers started teaching at the Bauhaus in Germany, and he started as a glass designer. When he went to Yale, he was working with glass and furniture designers as well. We know him as a painter of these fabulous squares and color theory, so we have all of these fascinating convergences in this particular piece. You have the slight changes of color and you have the glass and then of course the homage to the square. The work is signed in the lower left. That's the letter "A," which stands for "Albers." Coming to a value is a little bit of a challenge, but at minimum, it would be worth about $50,000 retail.
GUEST:
Wonderful!
APPRAISER:
Thank you so much for bringing it in.
GUEST:
My pleasure.
APPRAISER:
This was really a treat for us.
GUEST:
Thank you very much.
APPRAISER:
Thank you.
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