László Moholy-Nagy

photogram, a unique object, signed and dated in ink on the reverse, 1929

Sotheby’s New York, 26 and 27 April 1989, Sale 5833, Lot 189

Robert Koch, San Francisco, and Timothy Baum, New York, 1997

Herbert Molderings, Floris M. Neusüss, and Renate Heyne, Moholy-Nagy: The Photograms: Catalogue Raisonné (Ostfildern, 2009), fgm 280 (this unique object)

This photograph is on substantial double-weight paper with a velvety matte surface. The blacks are profoundly dark, making the lighter-toned shapes stand out in relief against the background and conveying a sense of three-dimensionality. There is faint silvering on the periphery of the image, appropriate for a print of this age. This unique photogram is in essentially excellent condition. There is minor wear and some inconsequential loss of emulsion on the edges and corners. An area of original retouching is present in the upper left corner, but is visible only upon close examination. None of these minor issues detracts from the brilliant appearance of this photogram. There are paper tape remains on the reverse of the print, along the left edge.
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.

This unique photogram comes from an especially animated trio of images Moholy-Nagy created in 1929 (fgm 279-81) that utilize the pinwheel shape.  Moholy had moved to Berlin in 1928 and began to create photograms with a new group of objects there, on a larger-format paper.  In the present image, Moholy’s deft handling of the pinwheel, a paperclip, and what appears to be a wire basket have resulted in a nuanced and lively abstract composition.  Rendered on matte-surface photographic paper with deep blacks and cream-white highlights, this photogram possesses the ideal object quality for Moholy’s work of this period.   

There are endless variations of the photogram process, and Moholy continually experimented with ways to expand its capabilities.  In the present image, the three-dimensional shape of the pinwheel creates a modulation of tonality where light has crept under its lifted edges.  The basket-like wire shape is rendered here in intense gray tones, indicating that it was suspended over the paper, and not resting directly upon it.  The doubled impression of the paperclip suggests that Moholy moved it during the exposure.

This pinwheel photogram was one of a number of superb Moholy photograms offered in these rooms in 1988 and 1989.  The cover image for the Sotheby’s April 1989 catalogue, it set a record at that time for a Moholy photographic work at auction, far in excess of what any Moholy photogram or photograph had sold for in earlier years.

For Moholy-Nagy, the photogram was the essence of photographic image-making.  He wrote: ‘The photogram, or cameraless record of forms produced by light, which embodies the unique nature of the process, is the real key to photography’ (A New Instrument of Vision, 1933).