Zoom # 5 László Moholy-Nagy Construction

The painting ‘Construction’ by the Hungarian artist László Moholy-Nagy belongs to a group of works produced between 1921 and 1924 that contain in a nutshell all the themes that would shape his artistic production for the rest of his life, namely glass architecture. In the process, the group features artistic compositions consisting of overlapping lines, quadrangles, circles and semicircles. Moholy-Nagy assigned particular importance to the effect of transparency, which evokes the impression of hovering spatial structures because in this way he was able to visualise the impact of light on materials and colours. A more intense occupation with the painting in the collection of the Wilhelm-Hack- Museum reveals interesting discoveries, for example, the fact that the work was published in an altered composition in the important magazine ‘telehor’ over ten years after it was produced. The exhibition presents the work in the context of El Lissitzky, Kasimir Malevich, Lajos Kassák and Max Burchartz.

Curator: Nina Schallenberg