Moholy-Nagy "was the dominant theoretician of the Bauhaus during its most prosperous era; his Constructivist/Suprematist paintings are among the finest achievements in European art of the twenties; he was a pioneer in kinetic sculpture; and his photographs, photograms and photoplastics led the way in exploring the full potential of photo reproduction. ... [H]e also made films, designed scenery and costumes, and excelled in commercial graphics and exhibition design. ... [This book] examines in detail the various stages of his career, from Hungary and Kassák's Activist circle during the First World War to Germany and the Bauhaus, from England in the 1930s to America and the founding of the New Bauhaus in Chicago ... [and includes] a wide selection of Moholy-Nagy's writings [and] extracts from his own letters, diaries and reminiscences, [and] critical commentaries of his work."--Back cover.
Part One. In the current of Hungarian activism ; A realistic portrait series : activism at its height ; The change ; On the border of suprematism and constructivism ; 'The work of art in the age of technical reproduction' : the telephone pictures ; New outlook : 'der buch neuer künstler' ; 'Photo eye' : the photographs ; Film nostalgia : 'dynamic of the metropolis' ; The youngest professor at the Bauhaus ; An attempt at defining avant-garde views : the Bauhaus book ; 'The theatre of the Bauhaus' ; The first book : 'painting, photography, film' ; 'From material to architecture' ; The agony of easel painting ; The light-space modulator ; Theatre, film ; Years of travel : between two Bauhauses and two continents ; The Bauhaus in America ; 'Vision in motion' -- Part Two. Illustrations -- Part Three. 1. Articles, essays, scenarios ; 2. Documents ; 3. Contemporary criticism.