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Collection by Marianne Colahan

Iconic Furniture Designs by Josef Albers

Bauhaus member and modernist pioneer Josef Albers was best known as an influential color theorist, writer, teacher, and painter. But the artist took his exploration of color into furniture design, creating pieces that married the Bauhaus ideals of elemental form, intersecting planes, clean geometry, lightness, and darkness, with thoughtful experimentation with color. These four furniture pieces, all of which were preserved before the onset of World War II, have been expertly reproduced and are available at the Dwell Store.

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Based on a 1928 design, this tea table, crafted in solid white oak with a lacquered glass top, is defined by the subtle intricacy of the legs. The pronounced wood grain of the white oak plays off of the sleek lacquered tabletop.
Based on a 1928 design, this tea table, crafted in solid white oak with a lacquered glass top, is defined by the subtle intricacy of the legs. The pronounced wood grain of the white oak plays off of the sleek lacquered tabletop.
This bookshelf is a reconstruction of Albers's original design, created in 1923 as a magazine stand for his Bauhaus fellow faculty member Walter Gropius. Albers based the shelf width and length to coincide with the square form, and then divided the form into equal horizontal and vertical segments. Solid white oak is used for both the horizontal and vertical components—the horizontal shelves are naturally darkened through oxidization and the vertical pieces are waxed and polished.
This bookshelf is a reconstruction of Albers's original design, created in 1923 as a magazine stand for his Bauhaus fellow faculty member Walter Gropius. Albers based the shelf width and length to coincide with the square form, and then divided the form into equal horizontal and vertical segments. Solid white oak is used for both the horizontal and vertical components—the horizontal shelves are naturally darkened through oxidization and the vertical pieces are waxed and polished.
This writing desk was built by Albers in 1927 for the Moellenhoff family. The desk, along with Albers’s famous nesting tables, was preserved and brought to the United States before World War II. Nearly an exact copy of the original, the desk is made of solid oak with a yellow lacquered glass top, black lacquered drawer fronts, brass hardware, and an oak side panel that can be raised to create a larger work space.
This writing desk was built by Albers in 1927 for the Moellenhoff family. The desk, along with Albers’s famous nesting tables, was preserved and brought to the United States before World War II. Nearly an exact copy of the original, the desk is made of solid oak with a yellow lacquered glass top, black lacquered drawer fronts, brass hardware, and an oak side panel that can be raised to create a larger work space.