László Moholy-Nagy

the photographer's 'foto moholy-nagy' stamp on the reverse, 1920s

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, 2001

Andreas Haus, Photographs and Photograms: Moholy-Nagy (New York, 1980), pl. 60

Bauhaus Photography (M. I. T. Press, 1985), pl. 11

Eleanor Hight, Moholy-Nagy: Photography and Film in Weimar Germany (Wellesley, 1985, in conjunction with the exhibition), p. 101, cat. no. 68

Maria Morris Hambourg and Christopher Phillips, The New Vision: Photography Between the World Wars (New York, 1989, in conjunction with the exhibition), pl. 98

Moholy-Nagy and The New Vision (Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, 1990), pl. 21 

Eleanor Hight, Picturing Modernism: Moholy-Nagy and Photography in Weimar Germany (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1995), p. 136, no. 68

László Moholy-Nagy (Photo Poche, 1998), pl. 20

This large photograph is on double-weight paper with a glossy surface. Moholy's stamp on the reverse is in purple ink. The photograph is in very good condition. Several creases – in three corners, and on the bottom edge – have been skillfully conserved, and a treatment report is available from the Photographs Department upon request. These are visible when the print is examined closely. The numerous fine white lines visible in the image are not defects in the print itself, but are due instead to scratches or debris on the negative during the printing process.
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.

The photograph of Lucia Moholy offered here is one of a select number of Moholy-Nagy's portrait studies that have occupied a consistent place in his oeuvre.  This portrait was reproduced in the early, definitive anthology of the photographer's work, 60 Fotos, published in Berlin in 1930.  The photographs in that volume were believed to have been culled from the nearly 100 Moholy images shown in a special room in Stuttgart's Film und Foto exhibition in 1929, and if so, this study of Lucia was included in that seminal exhibition as well.  The picture was one of approximately 50 Moholy images shown in the photographer's important one-man exhibition at the Delphic Studios in New York City in 1939.  The print of this image from that show, along with a negative version of the same study, was purchased by Beaumont Newhall for The Museum of Modern Art. 

The portrait incorporates the best aspects of Moholy-Nagy's innovative work with a camera: its spontaneity, underscored by the sitter's tousled hair and candid expression; its complex interplay of lights and darks; its seemingly careless cropping.  As a head-and-shoulders portrait, it deviates beautifully from the conventional format.  Moholy authority Eleanor Hight has observed that the picture's intermingling of black and white nearly obscures the identity of the sitter, producing 'an image which resembles a photogram' (Photography and Film in Weimar Germany, p. 99). 

Lucia Moholy (née Shulz) was László Moholy-Nagy's first wife.  They met in Berlin in 1920 and were married the following year.  An accomplished photographer in her own right, Lucia collaborated with her husband both in and out of the darkroom.  In the later 1920s, she began a career as a commercial photographer, making portraits and architectural studies.  László Moholy-Nagy's creative portrait studies of Lucia are matched by her equally intriguing photographs of him. 

The photograph offered here comes 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 among the first documentary filmmakers to incorporate sound into her work.   She owned a collection of at least 20 of Moholy's photographs; the large size of the present print may indicate that it was planned for use in an exhibition.

The print offered here is approximately the same size as the print of the image in The Museum of Modern Art, the latter purchased from the Delphic Studios exhibition in 1939, referred to above.  What would appear to be a contact print of this image, measuring approximately 3 ¼ by 2 1/8 inches, is in the Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The print of the image reproduced in both volumes by Hight measures approximately 11 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches, also smaller than the exhibition size of the image offered here. Originally in the collection of Gene and Dorothy Prakapas, this third print is now in a private collection.