MA-g
The Museum of Avant-garde

László Moholy-Nagy

Hungary (1895—1946)
Born in 1895 in Hungary, he moved to Budapest to study law before WWI but after the war he enrolled to a private art school and started to exhibit in Hungary, in Vienna and Berlin, where he was influenced by Dada and Constructivism movements. In 1922 he married Lucia Moholy, who introduced him to photography and photograms. In 1923 he was invited to teach the foundation course at the Bauhaus. He collaborated closely with Gropius and they even co-authored educational books. Back in Berlin he worked as a designer for advertising, exhibitions, theatre design. He also became increasingly interested in motion picture and made a film called A Lightplay – black white gray. When the Nazi came to power he moved to Amsterdam and in 1935 to London, where he re-joined with his collaborator Gyorgy Kepes. Gropius invited him again to teach as a Director, this time at Harvard University. In 1939 he opened The School of Design in Chicago, later The Institute of Design. He continued to teach and to work on photography and filming. In 1946 he died, just before his Vision in Motion was published.

Gyros in motion (Kinetische Skulptur)

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 19.1 x 24.8 cm / 1936 (2005) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Boat

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 30 x 38.3 cm / 1925 (1973) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Müvészek Könyve (Buch neuer Künstler)

Illustrated book / 23.4 x 30.8 cm / Wien, 1922 (1977)

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Untitled

Photogram / Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 30 x 39.7 cm / 1925 (1973) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar 1919-1923

Exhibition catalogue / Letterpress and lithographs / 25.1 x 25.5 cm / Berlin, 1923 (1981) / © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

A lightplay (Licht-Raum-Modulator)

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 18.8 x 24.9 cm / 1930 (2005) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Transporter bridge, Marseille (Pont Transbordeur, Marseille)

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 11.3 x 15 cm / 1929 (1970) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Negative nude

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 27.1 x 38.3 cm / 1925 (1973) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Untitled

Fotoplastik / Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 19.3 x 25.9 cm / 1925 (1973) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Plexiglas-Mobile in motion (Plexiglas-Mobile in Bewegung)

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 19 x 24.8 cm / 1943 (2005) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Typophotography for Broom magazine (Typophotographie pour la revue Broom)

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 11.3 x 15.9 cm / 1922 (1970) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Untitled

Photogram / Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 30 x 40 cm / 1925 (1973) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Merz 4

Banalitäten / Magazine / Letterpress / 14.4 x 22.9 cm / Hannover, 1923 (1975) / © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Untitled

Photogram / Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 19.9 x 26.7 cm / 1920 (1983) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Arts et métiers graphiques 16

Photographie / Magazine / 24 x 30.9 cm / Paris, 1930 (1980) / © 1930, Arts et Métiers Graphiques Paris

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The water's edge

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 17.6 x 23.4 cm / 1930 (1974) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Untitled

Photogram / Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 29.7 x 39.5 cm / 1925 (1973) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Rothenburg 1925

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 24.3 x 17.7 cm / 1925 (1983) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Metropole

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 12.4 x 17.4 cm / 1927 (n.d.) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Negative-positive

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 14.4 x 22.5 cm / 1927 / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Roofs in Helsinki

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 30.4 x 40 cm / 1930 (1973) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Space modulator with highlights

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 19 x 24.3 cm / 1942 (2005) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

De Driehoek

Maandschrift voor konstruktivistische Kunst / Magazine / 27.5 x 36.5 cm / Antwerp, 1925-1926 (1978)

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In La Sarraz castle (Im Schloss von La Sarraz)

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 20 x 28.5 cm / 1928 (1994) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Structure of the world

Photomontage / Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 26.8 x 35.9 cm / 1927 (1973) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Double portrait (Doppelportrait)

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 23 x 17 cm / 1925 (1973) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Portrait of Ellen Frank

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 30 x 38.3 cm / 1929 (1973) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Leda and the swan

Fotoplastik / Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 11.7 x 15.3 cm / 1925 (1973) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Spirals

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 25.8 x 17.8 cm / 1945 (2005) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Untitled

Fotoplastik / Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 18 x 24 cm / 1925 (1973) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Die Bühne im Bauhaus

Illustrated book / 17.4 x 24.8 cm / Munich, 1924 (1974)

Untitled

Skandinavienreise / Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 20.2 x 27.4 cm / 1930 (1994) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Militarism (Militarismus)

Fotoplastik / Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 12.6 x 17.8 cm / 1927 (1970) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Untitled

Lucia Moholy, Dessau / Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 1926 (1994) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

The benevolent gentlemen

Fotoplastik / Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 12.7 x 16.2 cm / 1924 (1970) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Het Overzicht

Half-Maandelijks Tijdschrift: Kunst, Letteren, Menshei / Bi-monthly periodical / 23.9 x 32 cm / Antwerp, 1921-1925 (1976) / SABAM Belgium 2020

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Manomètre

Mélange des langues, enregistre les idées, indique la pression sur tous les méridiens, est polyglotte et supranational / Magazine / 17.5 x 22.5 cm / Lyon, 1922-1928 (1977)

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Untitled

Laszlo photographs his own shadow / Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 20.1 x 28.5 cm / 1926 (1994) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Telehor (Internationale Zeitschrift für optische Kultur)

The international review new vision / Magazine / Offset lithograph / 21 x 29.7 cm / Brno, 1936 (2011) / © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Wire sculpture

Original photography / Gelatin silver print / 18.9 x 24.6 cm / 1946 (2005) / © Estate of László Moholy-Nagy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Foto-auge

76 Fotos der Zeit / Photographic book with letterpress cover by El Lissitzky / Heliogravure / 20.6 x 29.2 cm / Stuttgart, 1929 (1973) / © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn