László Moholy-Nagy

the photographer's 'foto moholy-nagy' credit stamp and titled and annotated '2/6' by Lucia Moholy, the photographer's first wife, and 'fgm 186' by Hattula Moholy-Nagy, the photographer's daughter, in pencil on the reverse, 1925-26, printed 1926-29

Collection of the photographer

By descent to the present owner

Herbert Molderings, Floris M. Neusüss, and Renate Heyne, Moholy-Nagy: The Photograms: Catalogue Raisonné (Ostfildern, 2009), fgm 186

This photograph, after a unique photogram, is on heavy double-weight paper with a very glossy surface. The print - an enlargement of Moholy's original - maintains the nuance and subtlety inherent in the best of his photograms. It is essentially in very good to excellent condition and has a rich, slightly warm tonality. There are thin, white margins, measuring approximately 1/4-inch wide. A 1/2-inch crease in the lower left corner that extends into the margin has been recently repaired (a treatment report is available upon request). Upon close examination, a small crease that appears to break the emulsion slightly is visible in the upper portion of the image, above the second finger. In raking light, scattered tiny matte deposits, some possibly original retouching, and a few pin-point-sized impressions that do not appear to break the emulsion are visible overall. The several small white specks and thin lines visible in the image are due to dust or imperfections on the negative and are not features of the present print. None of these issues detracts in a significant way from this impressive image.
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 image comes from a defining series of photograms Moholy executed in 1925 and 1926 in which his hands are the principle subject.  Like the prehistoric cave painter who placed a hand on the tabula rasa of a rock wall and sprayed it with pigment, Moholy placed his hand on photographic paper and exposed it to light.  Hands are a recurring motif in Moholy’s work, from the playful self-portrait in which he holds his palm toward the camera, to the sophisticated photograms and hybrid photogram/photo-collages of the 1920s and 30s.  In the present image, Moholy has manipulated the light in his characteristically masterful way, and the fingers appear to be separated by shadowy hand-like shapes.   

The location of the original photogram upon which this image is based is not definitively known.  Another print of the image, reproduced in the Catalogue Raisonné, is in the collection of Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts, but it is uncertain if the MFA’s version is the original photogram or a copy made from the original, like the print offered here.  No other versions of the single image have been located as of this writing, although the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography has in its collection an early print of the diptych.

Moholy paired this image with another hand photogram (FGM 185), creating an enlarged diptych that he exhibited both in the historic 1927 Film und Foto exhibition in Stuttgart and his one-man 1930 exhibition at the Künstlerhaus Brno.  An installation view of the Brno exhibition shows the diptych hanging directly over an enlarged version of Moholy’s fotoplastik, A Chick Remains a Chick (Moholy-Nagy: The Photograms: Catalogue Raisonné, pp. 224-25). 

Moholy’s extensive and adventurous experimentation with the photogram demonstrated the creative potential inherent in photographic materials.  The photogram process, in which objects are placed directly onto photographic paper and exposed to light, allowed the artist to work directly with light, and to guide its delineation of the selected objects.  The photogram was, for Moholy, the essence of creative photography: if one could learn to successfully manipulate light, Moholy reasoned, camera photography could be easily mastered.  Moholy made photograms for the entirety of his artistic career, and his oeuvre shows the full range of expression of which the medium is capable.