László Moholy-Nagy

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)

Untitled (Photogram), 1923-1925

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946)

Space Modulator with Yellow Aura

LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY (1895–1946)

From the Radio Tower, Berlin, 1928

LASZLO MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)

Sans titre (photogramme), 1923

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

LAZSLO MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)

Fotogramm, 1922 (1926 dans le Catalogue Raisonné)

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

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)

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

LASZLO MOHOLY-NAGY (1895-1946)

Konstrucktion V, from: 6. Kestner-Mappe 6 Konstruktionen

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)

Planes Intersecting

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)