Artists

László Moholy-Nagy

Press release

Annely Juda Fine Art presents a major exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Hungarian artist László Moholy-Nagy. In collaboration with the Moholy-Nagy Estate and Galerie Minotaure in Paris, this exhibition spotlights the extraordinary breadth of the artist’s artistic career whose ceaseless experimentation and integration of new materials and techniques distinguish him as a visionary proponent of the modern art era. László Moholy-Nagy: A New World offers a profound insight into Moholy-Nagy's extraordinary creative curiosity and discipline, tracing his evolution from early figurative oil landscapes in 1917 to the non-objective masterpieces of his later years. 

László Moholy-Nagy: A New World will showcase the two distinct periods of Moholy-Nagy’s life: his formative years in Berlin (1920-23; 1928-1933) and the culmination of his life and teaching in Chicago (1937-1946). The artist relocated to Berlin from Vienna in 1920: there he met photographer Lucia, whom he would marry in 1921. A self-portrait from 1920 reveals Moholy-Nagy’s early aesthetic leanings and classical draftsmanship.  Notable in the evolution of the 1920s works, is the profound influence of Constructivism and his liberation from figuration. Bold colours, collage and geometric precision reflect Berlin’s contemporary vibrancy and industrial growth.

This period also marks the beginning of his experimentation with various media. In 1922, the artist and Lucia adopted cameraless photography - placing objects onto light-sensitive paper and varying light exposure, creating their first photograms.  Trb1 from 1928 is an early example of the artist’s innovative incorporation of plastic as a material. The flatness and transparency of the medium captivated him, giving rise to the so-called light paintings:  “By producing real radiant light effects through transparent dyes on plastic and through other means, one has no need for translating light into colour by painting with pigment"