László Moholy-Nagy: The Photograms

Ghostly photograms from a Bauhaus teacher and pioneer of the medium
László Moholy-Nagy was one of the Bauhaus' most influential teachers; his photographic skills, as well as his writing on the subject, helped to secure the medium's integral place in modern art. One of Moholy-Nagy's most notable contributions was his extensive exploration--from 1922 through 1943--of the aesthetic possibilities of the photogram (he coined the term). These ghostly traces of objects placed on photographic paper during exposure are part of a prolific legacy that included painting, sculpture and stage design. Moholy-Nagy's photograms have become emblematic of the medium, though they have yet to be fully critically explored. This well-illustrated catalogue raisonné is the first to feature all of his known photograms--nearly 450--in chronological order. This exhaustive volume examines the artistic, technical and biographical circumstances under which the works were created, places them in relation to other parts of Moholy-Nagy's practice and analyzes selected pieces at length. László Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946) taught at the Bauhaus for five years, founding The School of Design in Chicago, which became the Illinois Institute of Technology, in 1939.