Gal Ab I

László Moholy-Nagy prints bring the crisp geometry and experimental spirit of the Bauhaus into your home. Moholy-Nagy was a Hungarian painter, photographer and teacher, a leading figure of Constructivism who taught at the Bauhaus and founded the New Bauhaus in Chicago, and who explored painting, photography, film, sculpture and design. Our collection of fine art prints includes his geometric compositions, photograms, prints and Bauhaus graphics.

About László Moholy-Nagy

László Moholy-Nagy was born László Weisz on 20 July 1895 in Bácsborsód, Hungary, into a Jewish family. His father left the family, and an uncle, Gusztáv Nagy, supported his education; he took his uncle's surname and later added "Moholy" after the town where he spent part of his boyhood. He studied law in Budapest, served as an artillery officer in the First World War, and was wounded in 1917.

After the war he gave up law for art and joined the Hungarian avant-garde. In 1922, at an exhibition at Der Sturm in Berlin, he met Walter Gropius, who in 1923 invited him to teach at the Bauhaus in Weimar. With his wife Lucia Moholy he experimented with photograms, images made by laying objects on light-sensitive paper, and he began work on his famous kinetic sculpture, the Light-Space Modulator.

He worked in the Netherlands and in London in the mid-1930s, and in 1937 moved to Chicago to direct the New Bauhaus. When it closed he reopened it in 1939 as the School of Design, which became the Institute of Design, now part of the Illinois Institute of Technology. The Nazis included his work in the Degenerate Art exhibition in 1937. He died in Chicago on 24 November 1946.

Style and Subjects

Moholy-Nagy's paintings and prints use clean geometric shapes, circles, bars, grids and overlapping transparent planes, arranged with precision against light or dark grounds. Colour is clear and limited, and the effect is of balance, movement and light.

He was "relentlessly experimental", working with photography, photograms, collage, film, stage design and sculpture, and believed art should embrace technology and industry.

Famous Works

• LIS (1922), Kunsthaus Zürich. A Constructivist composition of crossing bars and circles.
• E IV (Construction VII) (1922), Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. A geometric construction from his Berlin years.
• Construction in Enamel 2 (1923), Museum of Modern Art, New York. One of his famous "telephone pictures", made in enamel by a factory.
• Konstruktion IV (1922–1923). A print of overlapping geometric planes.
• Photogram. An image made by placing objects directly on light-sensitive paper.
• AXL II (1927), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Transparent planes floating in space.
• Light-Space Modulator (1930). His kinetic sculpture of metal and glass that throws moving light.

Decorating with Moholy-Nagy Prints

Moholy-Nagy's geometric compositions suit modern living rooms, home offices and creative studios. Their crisp shapes and clear colours look striking against white walls in thin black or metal frames, and a group of prints makes a strong Bauhaus-style wall.

His photograms and Bauhaus graphics, such as Malerei, Photographie, Film, are ideal for a design studio, library or hallway.

FAQ

Who was László Moholy-Nagy?

László Moholy-Nagy was a Hungarian painter, photographer and teacher who lived from 1895 to 1946. He taught at the Bauhaus and founded the New Bauhaus in Chicago.

What is a photogram?

A photogram is an image made without a camera, by laying objects on light-sensitive paper and exposing it to light. Moholy-Nagy experimented with the technique with his wife Lucia from 1922.

What was Moholy-Nagy's role at the Bauhaus?

Walter Gropius invited him to teach at the Bauhaus in Weimar in 1923. He was a strong advocate of joining technology and industry with art.

What is the Light-Space Modulator?

It is a kinetic sculpture of metal, glass and light, made for an exhibition in Paris in 1930, which casts moving patterns of light and shadow. He also made a film based on it.

Where can I see Moholy-Nagy's work?

Works are in the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Kunsthaus Zürich and the Städel Museum.

Related Artists

• Wassily Kandinsky: fellow Bauhaus teacher
• Paul Klee: fellow Bauhaus teacher
• Theo van Doesburg: De Stijl founder who brought his ideas to Weimar
• Rudolf Bauer: fellow artist of Der Sturm in Berlin