Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. Farbgitter No. 1, (1922).

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. Farbgitter No. 1, (1922)
Oil on canvas
30 1/4 x 23 1/2 in (76.8 x 59.7 cm)
Acquired c. 1948 from artist’s widow
(L01388-92)

The following is an excerpt from: Wadsworth Atheneum. (1984). The Tremaine Collection: 20th Century masters; The spirit of Modernism exhibition catalogue, p. 38 with photo of artwork. (Exhibition dates: 26 February - 29 April 1984).

"While previously Moholy-Nagy had been interested in creating sculptures from industrial materials, under the influence of Malevitch and El Lissitzsky, this work, one of the first canvases painted by the artist, emanated from an inner vision without recourse to ’motives’ from nature or technology. This painting reveals an interest in the properties of pure isolated color on a flat surface. The title, translated as Color lattice number 1, signals the artist’s desire to create a two-dimensional overall pattern of color. The result is a lattice constructed of bars of pure primary colors overlapping within the composition and interacting diversely as the eye perceives them in space. Moholy’s experiments of this sort were to play a major role in the development of Bauhaus painting a few years later."

The current location of the artwork is unknown.

To learn more about Laszlo Moholy-Nagy’s Farbgitter No. 1, (1992) since 1948, click the links to articles and exhibition compilations with documentation below.