László Moholy-Nagy

a unique object, on printing-out paper, titled and inscribed in German in ink and with the numerals '1' (circled) and '13' in pencil on the reverse, early 1920s

This photogram is on brown-toned printing-out paper with a nearly matte-surface. The paper appears to have been trimmed by hand on the left, right, and bottom edges, presumably by the photographer; these edges are very slightly uneven. The principle condition issue is the visible diagonal crease running from the lower left edge to the upper right, as visible in the catalogue illustration. The edges of the crease have been reinforced on the reverse by a conservator to stabilize them. The conservator has also addressed a small crease in the upper left corner, reinforcing it on the reverse, and in-painting the crease where the white of the paper had shown through. This is visible only upon close examination. There is a small crease in the upper right corner, and a very small loss of emulsion. When viewed in raking light, several faint scuffs can be seen on the surface. There is a small transparent accretion adjacent to the right edge, below the crease. The conservator's treatment report is available upon request.
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 photograph comes from the generation of photograms Moholy-Nagy produced using flowers in the early 1920s.  Made without a camera, by placing stems and petals directly on or over the sheet of photographic paper, this image illustrates Moholy's spirited inventiveness with the basic tools of photography: light and light-sensitive materials.  His subject matter for the present image was the Alpenveilchen, or Alpine Violet.  A number of photograms of flowers executed between 1922 and 1925 are included by Herbert Molderings, Floris M. Neusüss, and Renate Heyne in Moholy-Nagy, The Photograms: Catalogue Raisonné (Ostfildern, 2009) as photograms 29, 30, 31, 32, 72, 73, and 74.  Photogram 32 was sold in these rooms on 7 April 2008 as part of The Quillan Collection of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Photography (Lot 143). The photogram offered here was not known to the compilers of the catalogue raisonné prior to its publication.  It has since been shown, in reproduction, to Renate Heyne and has been issued the catalogue raisonné number photogram 423.  

According to new research by Molderings, Neusüss, and Heyne, Moholy's introduction to the concept and the practice of the photogram likely occurred at a school in the Rhön region of Germany in 1922.  On vacation with his wife, Lucia, Moholy visited the Loheland School of Physical Education, Agriculture, and Handicrafts.  There he was shown flower photograms done on daylight-sensitive printing-out paper.  Moholy mentions this encounter obliquely in his 1926 article, Photoplastiche Reklame, in which he refers to a 'Loheländerin' (a woman from Loheland, Germany) who had made such images.  While this reference has puzzled Moholy scholars for decades, Molderings, Neusüss, and Heyne suggest that the woman in question is likely Bertha Günther, a student-teacher at the Loheland School.  Remarkably, ten photograms by Günther still exist in the school's archives.  More remarkable is the effect that these simple, innocent images had on Moholy, who saw in them the basis for a wholly new approach to photography – one that dovetailed perfectly with his evolving theories about the need to develop new forms of artistic expression. 

Thus inspired, Moholy applied himself to the photogram process with characteristic vigor and creativity.  His earliest efforts were highly sophisticated and completely distinctive. Working first with cut strips of paper, board, and other man-made materials, and then with flowers, Moholy created a series of images striking in their originality.  Even when Moholy utilized the same subject matter he had seen at the Loheland School, the results are nothing like Bertha Günther's quaintly beautiful images.  Nor do they look like the botanical photograms produced in the previous century by Talbot and his circle (see Lot 40) or Anna Atkins, of which Moholy was unaware at the time.  For Moholy, flowers were ideal 'light modulators,' with their complex shapes and varying degrees of translucency, and he would repeatedly take them as subject matter for photograms in subsequent decades, making them, as Molderings, Neusüss, and Heyne note, 'the only recurrent motif in his photogram oeuvre.'

The wavering, sometimes doubled, edges of the Alpine Violets in the present photogram suggest that Moholy moved the flowers, perhaps multiple times, during exposure.  His choice of printing-out paper is significant, as it would have allowed him to see the image emerge during exposure, enabling him to guide and modify the composition as it was created.   

On the reverse of the present photogram, Moholy gives very specific information about how this image should be reproduced.  His instructions, translated from the German, are as follows: 'Please pay attention to the image.  The brown here is equivalent to the black. (or else one gets a dull flat gray).'  Knowing that this image would be reproduced in black-and-white, Moholy's directions are meant to insure that the photogram would have the proper tonal values on the printed page. 

It is not known when the crease that diagonally transects the image occurred.  Interestingly, there are two other photograms (fgm 30 and 74) from the same period that show similar diagonal creases. It is possible that these three photograms, of similar subject matter and made around the same time, were kept or mailed together and were subject to the same handling.