The Zimmerli Art Museum explores the early works of László Moholy-Nagy.
The diverse creative output of László Moholy-Nagy, a pivotal figure in the history of modernist art, will be explored in the exhibit Technical Detours: The Early World of Moholy-Nagy Reconsidered at the Zimmerli Art Museum in New Brunswick Sept. 1 to Oct. 31.
The exhibit celebrates Hungarian artist Moholy-Nagy’s interdisciplinary method, which he would later put to work at the Bauhaus, the pre-eminent school of modernist art and design in Europe.
Technical Detours focuses on the early years of Moholy-Nagy’s (1895-1946) career, from just after the end of World War I to 1923 prior to his joining the faculty of the Bauhaus. During this period he experimented with several different styles until he arrived at a style of geometrical abstraction for which he is best known and which defined the better part of his career.
More than 200 items will be featured in Technical Detours, including paintings, watercolors and book designs that illustrate the large influence Moholy-Nagy’s work had on artists in the early to mid-20th century. A recently discovered early painting on linen from his Dada period, hidden for 75 years on the verso of his International Constructivist painting "Architektur I," will be among the works on view.
The show also considers Moholy-Nagy’s interactions with artists and writers in Budapest, Vienna and Berlin and situates his work within their avant-garde circles after World War I. Works by other influential artists from Hungary, as well as émigré artists such as Kurt Schwitters with whom Moholy-Nagy interacted, will be included in the exhibition.
In conjunction with the symposium Visible Writings, the Zimmerli will present a series of exhibitions highlighting art that combines pictorial and textual material, or uses text and lettering for their visual potential. These works demonstrate how word and image relationships have been explored by artists in various international styles and movements of the modern era.
Exhibits opening Sept. 1 as part of this series include Inviting Words into the Image: Contemporary Prints from the Rutgers Archives for Printmaking Studios, By Its Cover: Original Art for Children’s Books, Lettrisme and Word and Image in Late 19th Century Paris.
Technical Detours: The Early World of Moholy-Nagy Reconsidered is on view at the Zimmerli Art Museum, 71 Hamilton St., New Brunswick, Sept. 1-Oct. 31. Ancillary programs include a screening of Moholy-Nagy’s experimental films, Oct. 27, 7 p.m., and a symposium, Detours of Technology: Insights into the Hungarian and Weimar German Oeuvres of László Moholy-Nagy, Oct. 28, 10 a.m. Other exhibits opening Sept. 1: Abraham Joel Tobias: Sculptural Paintings of the 1930s (through Dec. 31), Lettrisme (through Jan. 28), Word and Image in Late 19th Century Paris (through Jan. 28), By Its Cover: Original Art for Children’s Books (through Feb. 4). Hours: Tues.-Fri. 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Sat.-Sun. noon-5 p.m. Admission costs $3, free first Sunday of the month and for museum members/Rutgers students, faculty and staff/under age 18. For information, call (732) 932-7237, ext. 610. On the Web: www.zimmerlimuseum.rutgers.edu

