László Moholy-Nagy

positive photogram, inscribed ‘Peace and happiness 1940, Sibyl and László Moholy-Nagy’ by the photographer’s wife, Sibyl, in ink on the reverse, 1925-28

The photographer and his wife, Sibyl, to Swiss collectors, 1940

By descent to the present owners

Herbert Molderings, Floris Neusüss, and Renate Heyne, Moholy-Nagy: The Photograms: Catalogue Raisonné (Ostfildern, 2009), p. 26 and fgm 210A (this positive photogram)

This positive photogram is on double-weight paper with a slightly glossy surface. The paper's tones are very slightly, and pleasingly, warm. There is a black border on the left and bottom edge of the print. The print is essentially in excellent condition. Close examination shows some minor handling issues and inconsequential wear on the edges and corners. A faint curved linear crease is visible in the upper left quadrant only upon close examination in raking light. Sibyl Moholy's inscription on the reverse is written with a fountain pen in black ink. The sheet measures: 9 3/8 by 7 1/8 in. (24 by 18 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.

Moholy-Nagy’s experiments with the photogram process occupied him from the early 1920s to the very end of his life.  His exploration of the process extended past the making of original photograms, to using photograms as a point of departure for new works.  The photograph offered here is an example of the reinterpretation of a photogram as a positive image.  Moholy made this photograph by contact printing the original photogram (fgm 210) onto a sheet of photographic paper; this process produced an image whose tones were reversed from the original.  While the resulting image is inextricably related to its source, it presents a wholly new aesthetic experience.   

The original photogram for the present image is lost.  When compiling their catalogue raisonné of Moholy’s photograms, Renate Heyne and Floris Neusüss used this positive photogram to recreate the original photogram (fgm 210).  The present image is the only extant version of the lost original and is reproduced both as a small illustration within the catalogue raisonné and as a full-page illustration within the introductory text.  Heyne speculates that Moholy made positive versions of 33 photograms; of these only 17 are extant, including the present example.   

The inscription on the reverse of this photogram was written by Sibyl Moholy in 1940.  By that time, Moholy-Nagy and his wife were living in Chicago and watching developments in Europe with growing dismay.  In that year Sibyl similarly inscribed three photograms, all produced in the same period between 1925 and 1927.  In addition to the positive photogram offered here, sent to friends in Switzerland, Sibyl sent an original photogram to Beaumont Newhall (fgm 219), and a positive photogram (fgm 233A) to Walter and Ise Gropius.