Annelise Albers

Anni Albers is recognized as one of the most influential textile designers of the twentieth century. Born Annelise Fleischmann in Berlin, she attended the renowned Bauhaus school, where she began to experiment with weaving and fiber art, receiving her diploma in 1929. After the Nazis shut down the Bauhaus, Albers and her husband, artist Josef Albers, moved to North Carolina. During their time there, Albers continued designing and weaving with nontraditional materials. In 1949, she became the first textile artist to hold a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She later developed an interest in printmaking, her bold designs embodying the abstract, geometric aesthetic characteristic of the midcentury modern movement.