LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY | 'Fotogramm'

the photographer’s ‘foto moholy-nagy’ stamp, annotated ‘gramm’ in pencil, on the reverse, circa 1926

The photographer to Esfir Shub

By descent to Shub’s son

Gary Tatinsian Gallery, New York

Acquired by the present owner from the above

Herbert Molderings, Floris M. Neusüss, and Renate Heyne, Moholy-Nagy: The Photograms: Catalogue Raisonné (Ostfildern, 2009), fgm 114

László Moholy-Nagy, 60 Fotos (Berlin, 1930), pl. 27

Leland D. Rice and David W. Steadman, eds., Photographs of Moholy-Nagy from the Collection of William Larson (The Galleries of Claremont College, 1975), p. 43

Andreas Haus, Moholy-Nagy: Photographs and Photograms (New York, 1980), pl. 144

Eleanor M. Hight, Moholy-Nagy: Photography and Film in Weimar Germany (Wellesley, 1985), pl. 18

This photograph is on double-weight paper with a glossy surface. The print quality is quite good and preserves the nuance and detail of the original photogram. Because this print is not trimmed, it shows the entirety of the original photogram. When viewed in raking light, several handling creases can be seen in the print's surface. There is wear and consequent chipping of the emulsion on the edges of the print. Moholy's stamp is bold and appears here characteristically in purple ink. Moholy's penciled 'gramm' annotation is robust. The dimensions of the sheet of photographic paper are 7 7/16 by 5 3/8 in. (19 by 13.5 cm.).
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The photograph offered here comes originally from Esfir Shub (1894-1959), the pioneer Soviet filmmaker, whose collection comprised at least 20 Moholy-Nagy photographs.