László Moholy-Nagy

the photographer’s ‘foto moholy-nagy’ credit stamp on the reverse, circa 1925

The photographer to Esfir Shub, 1927-29

By descent to Shub’s son

Acquired from the above by Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Inc., New York

Acquired by the present owner from the above

Madrid, Circulo de Bellas Artes, László Moholy-Nagy: The Art of Light, June – August 2010; and traveling to:

Berlin, Martin-Gropius-Bau, November 2010 - January 2011

The Hague, Gemeentemuseum, January - May 2011        

Budapest, Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, June - September 2011

Olivia Maria Rubelo, Vincenzo Vitiello, et al., László Moholy-Nagy, The Art of Light (Madrid: Circulo de Bellas Artes, 2010), p. 64 (this print)

László Moholy-Nagy, Painting Photography Film (M. I. T. Press reprint of the 1925 original, 1987), p. 61

Irene-Charlotte Lusk, Montagen ins Blaue: László Moholy-Nagy, Fotomontagen und  -collagen 1922-1943 (Berlin, 1980), p. 174

Ingrid Pfeiffer and Max Hollein, eds., László Moholy-Nagy: Retrospective (Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 2009). p. 37

This photograph is on neutral-toned, heavy double-weight paper with a glossy surface. The glossy surface almost appears to be ferrotyped, but close examination reveals this not to be the case. In all respects, this is a characteristic Moholy photograph from the 1920s: rendering the composition's graphic qualities was Moholy's key concern. The print was not retouched by Moholy, and close examination reveals a number of specks, squiggles, and faint lines in the image that are due to dust or defects in the negative. Nonetheless, the print delivers the wonderful graphic quality of the image with Moholy's usual dynamic energy. There is a series of faint creases in the upper left corner of the print, and a crease in the upper right corner. There is very minor wear on the edges. The reverse of the print is appropriately age-darkened and shows some minor occasional soiling. The photographer's stamp is in purple ink. The sheet measures 11 1/2 by 8 3/4 in. (29 by 22 cm.)
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In The Sand was illustrated in Moholy’s influential volume, Malerei Photographie Film (Painting Photography Film), first published in 1925.  Part manifesto and part instruction manual, Painting Photography Film served, writes Herbert Molderings, ‘as the textbook of avant-garde photography in the whole of Europe, including the Soviet Union—and not just as an extremely practical guide but also as a model of theoretic argumentation in defense of the new endeavors in photography’ (László Moholy-Nagy: Retrospective, p. 36).  

In Painting Photography Film, Moholy’s radical caption for the picture read, ‘Formerly regarded as distortion, today a startling experience!  An invitation to re-evaluate our way of seeing. This picture can be turned round.  It always produces new vistas.’  In a challenge to compositional orthodoxy, Moholy asserts in his caption that the photograph can be viewed upside down or on either side; any orientation ‘produces new vistas,’ or a new way to consider both the image and the subject.   This approach encapsulates Moholy’s zeal for pushing past the accepted limits of photographic media.   Relentlessly experimental, Moholy was willing to accept the quirks of the photographic process and incorporate them into a new visual vocabulary.  In In The Sand, the elevated point of view and the compression of the subject’s body violated conventional notions of composition, but through Moholy’s confident handling created an image that was, and remains, wholly new.  This enthusiasm for challenging a picture’s expected orientation lasted throughout Moholy’s career: as Beaumont Newhall recounts, Moholy turned even the photographs of the formidable Edward Weston upside down, pronouncing, ‘It’s more beautiful this way!’ (quoted in Focus, p. 63). 

This photograph, and those in Lots 172 and 174, come originally from the collection of Esfir Shub (1894-1959), the Soviet filmmaker.  Among her credits is the epic historical trilogy, The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty, The Great Road, and Lev Tolstoy and The Russia of Nicolai II (1927-28).  A pioneer in the use of historical footage, Shub was one of the first documentary filmmakers to incorporate sound into her work.  Shub was a member of the multidisciplinary Oktiabr (October) artist group, along with Diego Rivera, Gustav Klucis, and Sergei Eisenstein.  She owned at least 20 photographs by Moholy, including a portrait of Lucia Moholy sold in these rooms on 30 March 2009 (Sale 8533, Lot 136).  A portrait of Shub by Alexander Rodchenko is reproduced in Lavrentiev’s Alexander Rodchenko: Photography 1924-1954 (p. 81).