Homage to the Square porcelain surface by Mutina

Homage to the Square by Mutina — an American masterpiece comes home to the wall

Mutina

The Josef & Anni Albers Foundation

Evergreen
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$ 1,001

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Homage to the Square is European by birth and American by life: Josef Albers began the series in 1950, the year he arrived at Yale — seventeen years after he and Anni Albers had emigrated to found the art department at Black Mountain College — and MoMA sent it travelling to twenty-two venues in 1964. The legacy lives in Bethany, Connecticut, at The Josef & Anni Albers Foundation — and it is with the Foundation that Mutina has now translated the century's most disciplined colour research into glazed porcelain: the newest collection in the catalogue (2026, registered design).

The module is a 6×6 inch square, unrectified — firing variations declared, each piece unique — in two patterns built from matte and glossy glazes: Dash, a glossy section within a matte frame and four glossy squares at the ends (the nested squares of the paintings), and Dot, matte with glossy corner squares. The 7 colors — Sea, Evergreen, Chocolate, Ice, Citron, Sage, Peach — are drawn from Albers's canvases and calibrated to one saturation: «in mathematics one plus one plus one equals three, but in art it equals three or more».

Where the series continues

The placements read like a museum label: Dot for interior floors and walls (stain class 5, DCOF 0.57 per ANSI A326.3 declared) and exterior walls; Dash for walls only — bathrooms, showers, receptions, executive floors. Red List documentation on request. Datasheet and certificates on this page.

Technical information based on data declared by the manufacturer.

Collection: Homage to the Square
Manufacturer: Mutina
Design: in collaboration with The Josef & Anni Albers Foundation, 2026 — registered design no. 015139910-0001/0025 (04/23/2026)
Material: glazed, unrectified porcelain stoneware (UNI EN 14411 BIa GL), 0.35 in — natural firing variations declared
Format: 6×6 in (5.9×5.9 in) — 44.44 pcs/sqm
Range: 2 patterns — Dash (glossy section in matte frame, 4 glossy squares) and Dot (matte field, glossy corner squares) — 7 colors from Albers's paintings: Sea, Evergreen, Chocolate, Ice, Citron, Sage, Peach — Jolly trims on request
Use: Dot: interior floors and walls, exterior walls — Dash: walls only, indoor and outdoor
Declared values: absorption 0.15% — stain class 5 — acids/alkalis class A — frost and thermal shock resistant — abrasion PEI 2 to PEI 5 — slip (Dot): DCOF 0.57 (ANSI A326.3), R10, DIN class B, Pendulum 45/25 matt
Installation: 0.08 in joint, flat dry substrates; fine-grain grout on glossy parts, no abrasives; colored grouts: sales office
Documents: VOC, EPD, SDS, HPD, Red List Building Materials on request — Packing: 30 pcs/box (0.68 sqm / 7.3 sq ft)

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Documents and Catalogs

Mutina Catalogue Homage to the Square Catalogue Homage to the Square Technical Guide, Laying & Maintenance

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FAQ

How American is Homage to the Square, really?
Half its soul: Albers trained and taught at the Bauhaus, but the series itself was born at Yale in 1950 and grew for twenty-six American years; before that, he and Anni had founded the art department at Black Mountain College - the school that shaped a generation of American art - after emigrating in 1933. MoMA consecrated the series in 1964 with a show that travelled to twenty-two venues, and the estate lives at the Foundation in Bethany, Connecticut. Specifying this collection is, in a real sense, specifying a chapter of American art history - fired in Italy.
What distinguishes Dash from Dot?
Intensity of the experiment: both are built from matte and glossy glazes - no printed decoration - but Dash sets a full glossy section inside a matte frame with four glossy squares at its ends, the clearest echo of the nested paintings, while Dot keeps the field matte and lights only the corners. Reflections shift with the viewer's position, and the unrectified porcelain keeps its declared firing variations: each piece unique, like brushwork. Planning rule: Dash is wall-only; Dot also takes interior floors.
Which pattern carries the slip file - and what does it say?
Only the one that needs it: Dash never goes underfoot, so it carries no slip rating - by design, not by omission. Dot, which does take interior floors, arrives ANSI-ready: DCOF 0.57 per A326.3 (above the 0.42 wet reference), plus R10, DIN class B and Pendulum 45/25 matt for international files - showers and bathrooms in scope, with stain class 5 and chemical class A behind it. Abrasion spans PEI 2-5 by color, so La Mercanti verifies the chosen tone's rating with Mutina for hard-working floors. And for LBC-minded teams: Red List Building Materials documentation is on the request list.
How do you actually design with 7 tones?
The way the paintings teach: in relation. All seven - Sea, Evergreen, Chocolate, Ice, Citron, Sage, Peach - are drawn from Albers's canvases and calibrated to one saturation, so pairs and triads harmonize by construction; the game is choosing which neighbors alter each other most beautifully. Sample in the room's real light - «every perception of colour is an illusion» is the founding quote of the collection - and remember the grout is a player too: colored grouts are available through the sales office. Sample costs fully credited at order confirmation.
What does procurement look like for a 2026 launch?
Clean and documented: registered design no. 015139910-0001/0025 (April 2026), full datasheet, and VOC, EPD, SDS, HPD and Red List files on request through La Mercanti for submittals. The format is 6×6 with 44.44 pieces per square meter, 30-piece boxes (7.3 sq ft), 2 mm joints - fine-grain grout on glossy parts, no abrasive cleaning on gloss. Jolly trims on request. La Mercanti converts drawings into per-pattern, per-color quantities and coordinates freight; sample costs are fully credited at order confirmation.

Installing an American classic: Homage to the Square in five steps

Five moves for US architects and design teams: from Yale canvas to shower wall - patterns, placements and the relational palette.

Pick the gallery wall
A shower enclosure, a reception backdrop, an executive corridor: contained fields where the colors can perform.
Respect the placements
Dot on interior floors and any wall; Dash strictly vertical, indoors and out - outside, the collection climbs, it is not walked on.
Compose in relation
Two or three tones per field: one shared saturation means the palette harmonizes by construction - let neighbors alter neighbors.
Mock up in site light
Morning and evening: the founding quote says perception is an illusion - verify it where it will live.
Order by the layout
30 pcs/box, 44.44 pcs/sqm: La Mercanti computes per-pattern, per-color quantities, spares and freight from the drawing.

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