László Moholy-Nagy (1895–1946) was a Hungarian painter, photographer and influential figure in the Bauhaus movement. He dedicated his career to ceaselessly innovate and experiment with art and new media.
Born Lázló Weisz in 1895 in Bácsborsód, Hungary, Moholy-Nagy initially studied law before shifting his focus to the arts after serving in World War I. ‘I’m doing right to become a painter,’ he once said. ‘It is my gift to project my vitality, my building power, through light, colour, form. I can give life as a painter.’ His early works included representational Expressionist drawings, but shifted towards abstraction in the early 1920s.
Influenced by Constructivism, Moholy-Nagy was a strong proponent of technological advancements and industrialisation of the early 20th century, incorporating these elements into his work. Moholy-Nagy often used newly developed and unconventional materials in place of canvas; his abstract visual language expresses his pursuit of the purity of colour, rhythm and form
Germany became the artist’s second home after the war. In 1923, Moholy-Nagy began teaching at the Bauhaus school in Weimar, alongside Josef Albers. His tenure at the Bauhaus marked a significant period in his career, as he explored new artistic methodologies and integrated modern technology into his work.
The artist’s experimentation with light and form led to groundbreaking contributions in abstract photography and photomontage. His ‘photograms’ were abstract images created by placing objects directly on light-sensitive paper. Moholy-Nagy was the first artist of his generation to incorporate scientific equipment such as telescope, microscope and radiography in his artistic expression.
Moholy-Nagy was a multidisciplinary pioneer, proficient and inventive in photography, typography, sculpture, painting, printmaking, film-making and industrial design. He spent his life essential in exile, moving from Hungry to Vienna, the Weimar Republic, then to Amsterdam, London and settling in Chicago in 1937 where he would remain until his death in 1946. The artist first became the director of the New Bauhaus in Chicago and later in 1939 opened the School of Design, now the Institute of Design part of Illinois Institute of Technology.Top of Form
László Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946)
Composition G4
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Composition G4
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Untitled (Photogram), 1923-1925
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946)
Space Modulator with Yellow Aura
László Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946)
Composition
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895–1946)
From the Radio Tower, Berlin, 1928
LASZLO MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Sans titre (photogramme), 1923
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Komposition
Làszlo Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946)
Konstruktionen – 6. Kestnermappe
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (1894-1946)
6. Kestner-Mappe 6 Konstruktionen, Hanover, Verlag Ludwig Ey, 1922-3 (Passuth 122-7; Weber 38.1-6)
LÀSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Photogramme, Dessau, 1925
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY–NAGY (1895–1946)
Untitled Photogram, 1939
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946)
Composition
LAZSLO MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Fotogramm, 1922 (1926 dans le Catalogue Raisonné)
LASZLO MOHOLY-NAGY (1894-1946)
Fotogramm, 1925
László Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946)
Untitled, Berlin, 1922
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (1845-1946)
Yellow composition
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
The Transformation/Anxiety Dream, Fotoplastik, 1925
LASZLO MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Oskar Schlemmer in Ascona, 1927
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1894-1946)
Oskar Schlemmer, 1927
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Komposition mit farbigen Streifen
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Composition aux cercles symétriques
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1894-1946)
The Water's Edge (Hungarian Sea), c. 1929
LASZLO MOHOLY-NAGY(1895-1946)
Sans titre
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Advertisement for Shocken Department Store (Variation of The Law of the Series), 1925
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Konstruktion IV, from 6. Kestner-Mappe 6 Konstruktionen
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1894-1946)
Untitled photogram, Dessau, 1925
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Composition, from Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses ( Masters' Portfolio of the Staatliches Bauhaus)
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Circle and Planes
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895–1946)
Kinder in Ascona, 1926
LASZLO MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Konstruktion IV, from Konstruktionen 6. Kestnermappe
LASZLO MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Untitled (Composition, Yellow-Black)
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1894-1946)
Untitled photogram, Chicago, c. 1937
László Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946)
Portrait of a man
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Composition No. 4
LASZLO MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Konstrucktion V, from: 6. Kestner-Mappe 6 Konstruktionen
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
[Untitled]
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
Degrees (P. 121)
LASZLO MOHOLY-NAGY (1894-1946)
Konstruktion VI, from 6. Kestner-Mappe 6 Konstruktionen (Passuth 123)
László Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946)
Ohne Titel
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Planes Intersecting
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Circles and Planes
LAZLO MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
Komposition
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)
In Tromö, Norway, 1931
Lazlo Moholy-Nagy (1894-1946)
Komposition, from: Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses (Söhn 210-6; Weber 6.6)