Moholy-Nagy’s Sketch of a score for a Mechanized Eccentric (1924).
Thoughts on Abstraction Pt.1
Lucas Osborn/AUS/2022László Moholy-Nagy may be one of the most important non-architects for the architecture scene in recent times. His influence reverberated throughout the architectural community and modernism due to his strong abstract imagery. The Hungarian dabbled in a range of mediums and expressions to bring to light his ideas of teaching, art, and design.
László Moholy-Nagy, Selbstportrait mit Hand (Self-Portrait with Hand), (1925-1929). Gelatin silver print.
The post-War period gave rise to important architectural growth and innovation. My theory is after times of great economic recession there is a delayed surged (5+ years after said recession) that sees a paradigm shift in architecture. This was seen most prominently after World War II with the rise of Modernism but after the Great War Moholy-Nagy was at the forefront of change. The Bauhaus founded by Walter Gropius in 1919 is where Moholy-Nagy was invited to teach at in 1923, which gave rise to great architectural innovation and creation from the Great War1.
Moholy-Nagy founded the defunct ‘New Bauhaus’ in October 1937. The teachings of which formed many young artists and designers such as filmmakers Morton and Millie Goldsholl, and Charles Niedringhaus, and produced products such as the design for Dove soap and other everyday objects we know today. The unorthoxdox school struggled financially, partly due to their radical teachings. However, the impact of the school is felt today architecturally through design thinking and teaching.
László Moholy-Nagy, Light Prop for an Electric Stage (Light-Space Modulator), (1922-30).
The geometry abstraction of Moholy-Nagy with strict, sharp edge, and complex experimentation is what I think defines his style. There are no shapes in his work rather spirals, diagonals and relationships between geometry. His art is not just shapes on a plane, it is forms which draw influence from the context and world at the time. I would not however define his forms as organic. Such a term may have been used in the 20th century but in a 21st century context, organic architecture and forms define works of a living nature.
László Moholy-Nagy, Konstruktion Z VII (1926).
The impact on the constructivist architectural movement is the most prominent from his work. His art draws parallels between abstraction and built form in the context of the constructivists. I think you can see this best through Moholy-Nagy’s sculpture work with close relations to the work of El Lissitzky who he met in 1921. The geometry takes a back seat and the colours become the primary focus of the artworks.
“The Constructivists felt that a good art environment could promote good individual and communal values” László Moholy-Nagy (1920s)1
Moholy-Nagy art and teaching is a transitional exploration of modernism. His references of the contemporary scene and zeitgeist is illustrated in his art. Yet his expression of form breaks the boundaries of the abstract even today.
László Moholy-Nagy,
D IV (1922).
1Hattula Moholy-Nagy, “László Moholy-Nagy: a short biography of the artist,” Moholy-Nagy Foundation, N/A, https://moholy-nagy.org/biography/.
2Joyce Tsai and Jay Krueger and Christopher Maines, “Transparency and light, structure and substance’: enamel paints in László Moholy–Nagy’s Z VII (1926),”Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, Vol. 52 No. 4 (Nov 2013): 236-245, DOI: 10.1179/1945233013Y.0000000017.
3 Tsai and Krueger and Maines, “Transparency and light, structure and substance,” 236-245.