Dolls on the Balcony
Moholy-Nagy took this photograph in 1926 while on holiday in Ascona, Switzerland, with Oscar Schlemmer, a fellow instructor at the Bauhaus, and the Schlemmer family. It was published in 1927 in the second revised and English editions of Moholy's "Painting, Photography, and Film" with the caption, "The organisation of the light and shade, the criss-crossing of the shadows removes the toy into the realm of the fantastic." The image projects a Constructivist organization of space in the way vertical and horizontal surfaces are unified in a single plane by an overall pattern of light and shade. The insistent presence of the grid conveys a deeply ominous feeling, the disjunction between its shadows and the vulnerable bodies of the two caged dolls creating a sense of foreboding violence more typical of Surrealism than of the mechanized utopias of Constructivist art.
Artwork Details
- Title: Dolls on the Balcony
- Artist: László Moholy-Nagy (American (born Hungary), Borsod 1895–1946 Chicago, Illinois)
- Date: 1926
- Medium: Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions: 23.5 x 17.5 cm (9 1/4 x 6 7/8 in.)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Gilman Collection, Purchase, Denise and Andrew Saul Gift, 2005
- Object Number: 2005.100.437
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
László Moholy-Nagy
1924–28
László Moholy-Nagy
1920s
László Moholy-Nagy
ca. 1920
László Moholy-Nagy
1930
László Moholy-Nagy
ca. 1930
Related Content
Publications
Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.