Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, 20th-Century Design Pioneer

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, 20th-Century Design Pioneer Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (born Laszlo Weisz; July 20, 1895 - November 24, 1946) was a Hungarian-American artist, theorist, and educator who strongly influenced the aesthetic development of industrial design. He taught at Germanys famed Bauhaus school and was a founding father of the institution that became the School of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Fast Facts: Laszlo Moholy-Nagy Occupation: Painter, photographer, filmmaker, industrial designer, and educatorBorn: July 20, 1895 in Bacsborsod, HungaryDied: November 24, 1946 in Chicago, IllinoisSpouses: Lucia Schulz (divorced 1929), Sibylle PietzschChildren: Hattula and ClaudiaSelected Works: Collage with Black Centre (1922), A 19 (1927), Light Space Modulator (1930)Notable Quote: Designing is not a profession but an attitude. Early Life, Education, and Military Career Born in Hungary as part of the Weisz Jewish family, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy grew up with his mother as a single parent when his father abandoned the family of three sons. She was a second cousin of noted classical music conductor Sir Georg Solti. Moholy-Nagys maternal uncle, Gusztav Nagy, supported the family, and the young Laszlo took the Nagy name as his own. He later added Moholy in recognition of the town Mohol, now part of Serbia, where he spent much of his early life. The young Laszlo Moholy-Nagy originally wanted to be a poet and published some pieces in local newspapers. He also studied law, but service in the Austro-Hungarian military during World War I changed the direction of his life. Moholy-Nagy documented his service with sketches and watercolors. Upon discharge, he began attending the art school of Hungarian Fauve artist Robert Bereny. Collage with Black Centre (1922). Heritage Images / Getty Images German Career German architect Walter Gropius invited Moholy-Nagy to teach at his famed Bauhaus school in 1923. He taught the foundation course with Josef Albers and also replaced Paul Klee as Head of the metal workshop. Moholy-Nagys ascendancy marked the end of the schools association with expressionism and movement in the direction of industrial design. While he considered himself primarily a painter, Moholy-Nagy was also a pioneer experimenting with photography and film. In the 1920s at Bauhaus, he created abstract paintings influenced by dadaism and Russian constructivism. The impact of Piet Mondrians De Stijl work is also apparent. Some of Moholy-Nagys collages demonstrated influences from Kurt Schwitters. In photography, he experimented with photograms, exposing photo-sensitive paper directly to light. His films explored light and shadows like much of the rest of his art. By combining words with photography in what he called Typophotos, Moholy-Nagy created a new way of looking at the potential of advertising in the 1920s. Commercial designers adopted his approach in ways that resonate today. Light Space Modulator (1930). Sean Gallup / Getty Images In 1928, while under political pressure, Moholy-Nagy resigned from the Bauhaus. He established his own design studio in Berlin and separated from his wife, Lucia. One of his key works of the early 1930s was the Light Space Modulator. It is a kinetic sculpture using reflective metal and recently invented Plexiglas. Standing almost five feet tall, the object was initially intended for use in theaters to create light effects, but it functions as an art piece on its own. He created a film called Light Play Black-White-Grey to show what his new machine could do. Moholy-Nagy continued to develop variations on the piece throughout his career. American Career in Chicago In 1937, with a recommendation from Walter Gropius, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy left Nazi Germany for the U.S. to direct the New Bauhaus in Chicago. Unfortunately, after only a single year of operation, the New Bauhaus lost its financial backing and closed. A 19 (1927). Sailko / Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons 3.0 With support from ongoing benefactors, Moholy-Nagy opened the School of Design in Chicago in 1939. Both Walter Gropius and celebrated American education philosopher John Dewey served on the board. It later became the Institute of Design, and in 1949 became a part of the Illinois Institute of Technology, the first higher education institution in the U.S. to offer a Ph.D. in design. Some of Moholy-Nagys later career work involved creating transparent sculptures by painting, heating, and then shaping pieces of Plexiglas. The resulting pieces often appear playful and spontaneous compared with the artists industrial-influenced work. After receiving a leukemia diagnosis in 1945, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy became a naturalized U.S. citizen. He continued to work and teach until his death from leukemia on November 24, 1946. A II (1924). Sailko / Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons 3.0 Legacy Laszlo Moholy-Nagy impacted a broad array of disciplines, including industrial design, painting, photography, sculpture, and film. He helped bring modern aesthetics to the industrial world. With his combination of typography and photography in collage work, Moholy-Nagy is considered one of the founders of modern graphic design. Source Tsai, Joyce. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy: Painting after Photography. University of California Press, 2018.

German Writers Every German Learner Should Know

German Writers Every German Learner Should Know What is it that your German teacher always says? If you can’t speak, then read, read and read! Reading will help you tremendously in improving your language skills. And once you are able to read some of the great writers of German literature, you will understand German thought and culture more in depth. In my opinion, reading a translated work never equals the original in the language it was written in. Here are a few German writers that have been translated in numerous languages and that have influenced people all over the world. Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805) Schiller was one of the most influential German poets of the Sturm und Drang era. He ranks high up in German people’s eyes, alongside with Goethe. There’s even a monument depicting them side by side in Weimar. Schiller was successful in his writing from his very first publication on - Die Ruber (The Robbers) was a play written while he was at a military academy and quickly became renowed thoughout Europe. Initially Schiller had first studied to become a pastor, then became a regimental doctor for a short period, before finally devoting himself to writing and teaching as a professor of history and philosophy at the University of Jena. Later moving to Weimar, he founded with Goethe Das Weimar Theater, a leading theatre company at the time. Schiller became part of a German Enlightment period, die Weimarer Klassik (the Weimar Classism), later on in his life, of which also famous writers such as Goethe, Herder and Wielandt were a part. They wrote and philosiphized about aesthetics and ethics, Schiller having penned an influential work entitled ÃÅ"ber die sthetische Erziehung des Menschen On the Aesthetic Education of Man. Beethoven famously set Schillers poem Ode to Joy in his ninth symphony.   Gnther Grass (1927) Gunter Grass is one of Germany’s most notable writers currently living, whose work has garnered him a Nobel Prize of Literature. His most renowned work is his Danzig Trilogy Die Blechtrommel (The Tindrum), Katz und Maus (Cat and Mouse), Hundejahre (Dog Years), as well as his most recent one Im Krebsgang (Crabwalk). Born in the Free City of Danzig Grass has worn many hats: he’s been also a sculptor, graphic artist and illustrator. Further, throughout his life, Grass has always been outspoken about European political affairs, receiving the2012 European of the Year award from the European Movement Denmark . In 2006 Grass has received much attention from the media involving his participation in the Waffen SS as a teenager. He has also recently voiced his disapproval of facebook and other social media, stating that â€Å"anybody who has 500 friends, has no friends.† Wilhelm Busch (1832-1908) Wilhelm Busch is known as a pioneer of the comic strip, due to his caricature drawings that accompanied his verse. Among his most popular works are Max and Moritz, a children’s classic that recount the mischievous pranks of the aforesaid boys, a ballad that is often read and dramatized in German schools.Most of Busch’s works are a satirical spin on practically everything in society! His works were often a parody of double standards. He poked fun at the ignorance of the poor, the snobbery of the rich, and in particular, the pomposity of clergymen. Busch was anti-Catholic and some of his works greatly reflected this . Scenes such as in Die fromme Helene, where it is hinted that the married Helene had an affair with a clergy man or the scene in Der Heilige Antonius von Padua where the catholic Saint Antonius is being seduced by the devil clad in ballet attire made these works by Busch both popular and offensive. Due to such and similar scenes, the book Der Heilige Antonius von Padua was banned from Austria until 1902. Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) Heinrich Heine was one of the most influential German poets in the 19th century that German authorities tried to suppress because of his radical political views. He is also known for his lyrical prose which was set to music of classical greats such as Schumann, Schubert and Mendelssohn in the form of Lieder form. Heinrich Heine, a jew by birth, was born in Dà ¼sseldorf, Germany and was known as Harry until he converted to Christianity when he was in his twenties. In his work, Heine often ridiculed sappy romanticism and over exuberant portrayals of nature. Though Heine loved his German roots, he often critiqued Germanys contrasting sense of nationalism.