László Moholy-Nagy was a major figure in the development of modernist art and design in Europe and the United States. His innovative work during the 1920s and 1930s included the use of oblique angles, unusual points of view, photomontage, and the cameraless photographs known as photograms. Photograms are light drawings made by placing objects in direct or near contact with paper coated with light-sensitive chemicals. When exposed to light, the objects leave their impression on the paper, resulting in a unique image characterized by the immediacy of direct creation. Moholy-Nagy's bold and elegant 1939 example is made even more compelling by its large size. The identity of the objects is transformed into an abstract vision of overlapping, transparent planes floating in a void.

---