László Moholy-Nagy

The New Bauhaus

Alysa Nahmias

László Moholy-Nagy

When radical Hungarian artist László Moholy-Nagy moved to Chicago in 1937, he spearheaded “The New Bauhaus,” a movement descended from the famous German school. An original Bauhaus member, Moholy-Nagy took a pioneering interdisciplinary mixed-media approach to art and design that was vastly ahead of its time. Featuring intimate interviews with Moholy-Nagy’s daughter and an in-depth exploration of his groundbreaking work, The New Bauhaus offers an illuminating portrait of a visionary teacher and thinker.

Lobsters

John Mathias, László Moholy-Nagy

Alan Howland

Lobsters, 1935: A documentary film about lobster fishermen in Sussex, England. It brings to life the struggle above and below the surface of the sea. With narration by Alan Howard.

Berliner Stilleben

László Moholy-Nagy

A city symphony of Berlin.

Gross-Stadt Zigeuner

László Moholy-Nagy

This film documents the daily lives of Roma in their winter quarters on the outskirts of Berlin, Germany. The film presents insights into the Roma’s complex and often tumultuous society.

Impressionen vom alten Marseiller Hafen (Vieux Port)

László Moholy-Nagy

"Impressionen vom alten marseiller Hafen," captures the steady hum of commerce of one of europe's biggest and most populous port cities.

Tönendes ABC

László Moholy-Nagy

In this light-hearted experiment, Professor Moholy-Nagy demonstrates differences in sound produced by arbitrary manipulation of the soundtrack. The optical soundtrack has been re-photographed to appear on the screen as the corresponding sound is heard.

The New Architecture and the London Zoo

László Moholy-Nagy

The film examines the redesign of various exhibits at the London Zoo. The film was produced for the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Zoological Society of London, England.

Ein Lichtspiel schwarz weiss grau

László Moholy-Nagy

This short film made by László Moholy-Nagy is based on the shadow patterns created by his Light-Space Modulator, an early kinetic sculpture consisting of a variety of curved objects in a carefully choreographed cycle of movements. Created in 1930, the film was originally planned as the sixth and final part of a much longer work depicting the new space-time.

Architects' Congress

László Moholy-Nagy

Architects' Congress is Lázló Moholy-Nagy's cinematic journal which recorded the 4th meeting of the CIAM (International Congress of Modern Architecture) in August of 1933. The meeting was held on board the ship Patris II which cruised from Marseilles to Athens, the Aegean Islands, and back. Congress participants featured such luminaries as Alvar Aalto, Cornelis van Eesteren, Charlotte Perriand, Ferdinand Léger, Seigfried Gideon, Le Corbusier, and José Luis Sert.

Grossstadt-Zigeuner

László Moholy-Nagy

This film documents the daily lives of Roma in their winter quarters on the outskirts of Berlin, Germany. The film presents insights into the Roma’s complex and often tumultuous society.

Design Workshops

László Moholy-Nagy

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy originally shot "Design Workshops" as a silent film to which he lectured when he presented the program of the Institute of Design. Now, after many years an added commentary and music. The film records students, faculty, and projects of the School of the early 1940s. It animates, as only film can, Moholy-Nagy's two English-language books on Bauhaus education, The New Vision & Vision in Motion.

Do Not Disturb

László Moholy-Nagy

Do Not Disturb, produced by Institute of Design head Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and his students in 1945, is the perfect encapsulation of this brio. Jealousies and tensions amongst young lovers are projected using every trick of the trade: multiple exposures, reverse motion, handheld camerawork, split screen, prism lenses, rapid motion, distortions and more.