Ludwig Museum in Budapest Presents László Moholy-Nagy’ Exhibition

The press conference following the opening started with the speech delivered by Barnabás Bencsik, director of the Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art. As he said, ‘The exhibition presenting László Moholy-Nagy’s oeuvre fits into the series of exhibitions initiated by the museum years ago in order to introduce the Hungarian-born artists who had contributed so much to the twentieth-century art’. He added that Budapest had not held such an exhibition of Moholy-Nagy’s work since 1975, so apart from the merits of the artist, the event was also justified by the progress of time, as a new generation had grown up who had never jad the chance to see his works. The central organizing principle in Moholy-Nagy’s diverse activities was light which gave the exhibition a new aspect.

László Moholy-Nagy was born in Bácsborsód, Hungary, and then he taught at the Weimar Bauhaus. Because of the Nazi threat he immigrated to London, then the United States where he founded the School of Design in Chicago which is still working. His daughter, Hattula Moholy-Nagy said, ‘I am always happy to see his works exhibited. This exhibition makes me especially pleased as although he had lived in so many places and met a lot of cultures, he remained a Hungarian in his heart. This exhibition is a true picture of Moholy-Nagy, the international artist, too.’

The international aspect of the Moholy-Nagy oeuvre was emphasized by Gergely Pröhle, Deputy Secretary for EU Bilateral Relations and Cultural Diplomacy. As he mentioned, ‘Moholy-Nagy’s personality and art represents everything those working for the foreign department spoke of before Hungary became member of the Union in 2004: Hungary has always been part of Europe, not only geographically, but artistically and intellectually, too.’

Monika Balatoni, creative director of Hungarofest also emphasizes the cultural significance of the exhibition, as well as its symbolic relationship with the Hungarian EU presidency. She said that the series of events in June were a nice closing of the EU presidency. As she stated, the Moholy-Nagy exhibition in the Ludwig Museum representing Moholy-Nagy’s place in European culture, the Pina Bausch shows in the neighboring National Theatre and the Budapest Wagner Days in the Palace of Arts were part of an extraordinary series of cultural events.

Oliva Maria Rubio, curator of the exhibition pointed out that Budapest was a special place in the artist’s life, as this was the place where he started his university studies, here he was convalescing after his injury, this was the city he met Avantgarde and his works were first published. She also highlighted Moholy-Nagy’s innovative personality and his achievements what light and perspectives are concerned. As she said at the guided tour following the press conference, Moholy-Nagy transcended his age, as a result of which his contemporaries did not comprehend his art, and the public of today cannot seem to realize the novelty, although the works displayed were made in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s.

As an afterword, Barnabás Bencsik mentioned that a special museum shop was opened in the premises of the exhibition hall where the books published on the occasion of the exhibition were available, e.g. Oliva Maria Rubios’s English-Spanish volume of studies on Moholy-Nagy’s art, Krisztina Passuth’s (the artist’s Hungarian researcher) new edition of Moholy-Nagy volume published in 1982, as well as a volume of studies containing the writings of such authors as Krisztina Passuth or Levente Nagy, a relative of Moholy-Nagy’s living in Budapest.

The exhibition László Moholy-Nagy – The Art of Light is on view until 25 September, and in June there will be several guided tours, too.