The first few years that Josef Albers spent in the United States  had a considerable influence on his art. He had been known in Germany for his strictly geometric glasswork. In 1935, he began a series of oil paintings that were sketch-like, abstract studies that he called free forms. Initially, the focal point was nature, however the works were not genuinely biological in nature, instead they were intended to reflect life and its vital functions. His graphics were initially characterised by angular, orthogonal and round shapes that had their origins in geometry as much as poetry and which appeared alongside each other in equal prominence. Some of his drawings from the 1940s feature cell-like biomorphic shapes emerging from gradually oscillating lines. Afterwards, the mantras of control and order took on a more important role and the paintings he created in his first few years in the USA adopted a more closed, more linear structure.

In the dry point work Eh-De, the line, or rather two lines are allowed to fill the space as they please. These two lines represent a relationship between action and reaction. His Treble Clef works, created between 1932 and 1935, depict the transition and relationship between Europe and America. Albers began work on this series in Dessau and finished it while at Black Mountain College.