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German History in Documents and Images
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László Moholy-Nagy with Metalworking Students at the Weimar Bauhaus (1924-25)
The Hungarian painter, photographer, and filmmaker Lázló Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946) taught at the Bauhaus for only five years, yet became one of its most influential masters. He joined the school as head of the metal workshop in April 1923, replacing Johannes Itten. He also taught part of the preliminary course and, in close cooperation with Walter Gropius, edited and designed the Bauhaus Books. He left the school when Gropius’ directorship ended in 1928 and moved to Berlin to head a graphic design studio. In 1934, he was forced to emigrate; he went first to the United Kingdom and then to the U.S., where he became the head of the New Bauhaus in Chicago, later renamed the School of Design. This photograph shows Moholy-Nagy with some of the best-known Bauhaus metalwork designers, Marianne Brandt (left, in black), Wilhelm Wagenfeld (on the other side of Moholy-Nagy, with pipe), and Christian Dell (standing behind Moholy-Nagy).