Provenance:

Yuichi Idaka, Personal Collection.

Bauhaus Chicago Foundation.

Andreas Hug, of the Moholy-Nagy Estate, has kindly confirmed the lifetime printing and authenticity of this photograph.

Lot Essay:  

László Moholy-Nagy: Early European Photographs

This vintage lifetime photograph was printed by Yuichi Idaka in the early 1940s while Idaka was at the School of Design/Institute of Design in Chicago.  Idaka was a student of Moholy-Nagy and was faculty at the Institute from 1943-1945.  At that time, it was difficult for Japanese Americans to enter technical fields; however, Idaka’s chemistry background and interest in photography made him a perfect candidate for the Institute and for collaborations with Moholy.  Importantly, Moholy’s daughter, Hattula Moholy-Nagy, in the introduction to Jeannine Fiedler’s 2019 book Moholy Album, where each of the works presented here are documented, confirms that: 

'Moholy did not print his own photographs.  We know from other sources that he handed over this stage of the process to others.  Much of the developing and printing was done by his first wife, Lucia Moholy.  A great deal was also carried out by various professional printers… A student who attended the School of Design in Chicago in the 1940’s told me that even in the creation of his photograms, Moholy would compose the picture and expose it in the darkroom, but the students would develop the prints because Moholy was allergic to the chemicals.'

This group of photographs (Lots 12-21 of this auction) represents one of the most unique aspects of Moholy-Nagy’s school: the extraordinary collaboration between students and teachers.  These are confirmed by the Moholy-Nagy Estate to be authorized and printed during the artist's lifetime.  Additionally, Hattula Moholy-Nagy viewed these photographs in the 1990s after Idaka sent her the group.  She subsequently returned the photographs to him in 1999 telling him that she believed the original negatives were lost.  The cataloging here reflects her most accurate data of place names, subject, and dates. 

Proceeds from the sale of Lots 12-35 in this auction will benefit the continuing work of the Bauhaus Chicago Foundation. 

Founded in 2010, BCF is a not-for-profit whose mission is ‘to ensure that the educational principles formulated in the field of creative arts at the Bauhaus and taught by László Moholy-Nagy in Chicago between 1937 and 1946 are preserved and documented for future generations.’ After its founding, the Foundation became an impressive repository of documents, photographs, artworks, and writings preserving the legacy related to Moholy’s school.  This research collection expanded significantly through gifts and bequests of primary source material.  A great share of the archives and artworks collected were gifted to the Ryerson & Burnham Archives at the Art Institute of Chicago, BCF’s esteemed partner.  That collection represents some 160 faculty and students of László Moholy-Nagy’s New Bauhaus/Institute of Design.  Other artworks have been gifted to numerous university museums in Illinois and Indiana as well as fifteen other museums in Canada, Japan, Germany, and the United States. 

Unframed.
Backmat: 14 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.
Sheet: 10 x 8 in.

Very slight uneven toning to sheet; slight wear to edges, with handing crease at upper right edge; minor surface dirt, with faint graphite lines around three edges of image, likely due to prior mounting; cornered to backmat at all corners; appears to be in overall good condition. Please request additional images.

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