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.